Made in Australia
by The Wild Turkey
Summary: When the Australian intelligence services decide an investigation of the Knight Sabers is warranted, the agent in charge of the operation soon finds himself a pawn in a game of deceit, betrayal and murder.
1. Default Chapter

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This is an unauthorized fanfiction. No rights to any copyrighted names, characters, settings, storylines, etc is being claimed except for those of my own invention. Futhermore, no financial gain is being made from this story. 

NOTE ON TEXT: Because of the size of the file, I was forced to split this story into two parts. There are no chapters to this, just one long story. As you can no doubt tell from the title, this is an Australian story. It uses Australian spelling and terms. A short glossary of Australian terms has been included at the end of part two. 

Made in Australia 

A waiter threaded his way through the exquisitely turned out guests, serving extra glasses of champagne to those that had already drained their first glass. One of those was a short, balding westerner who sipped his drink as he considered the view over Tokyo Bay through a set of floor to ceiling windows. A slight mist had gathered over the waters, and appeared to glow slightly as the light off Genom Tower was filtered through. Here and there large cargo ships could be seen, either being slowly manoeuvred into the docks by automated tug boats or heading for the open sea under their own power. An elderly Japanese man came to stand by the westerner and said something to him. The Westerner responded with a polite remark, tinted with just the right amount of charm. 

The Japanese man smiled and was about to say something more when a loud crash was heard from the adjoining kitchen, followed by a series of small explosions. Something burst through the door, flinging it off its hinging and across the room where it crashed into a small group of guests. The thing let out an electronic wail and leapt forward, landing atop a stunned man, crushing him under its weight. Suddenly people were screaming and running for the exits. The westerner, dumbfounded by terror, backed up slowly till he felt a wall press into his back. Sliding down it, he curled into a quivering ball on the floor by the window, preying he wouldn't come to the attention of the rogue boomer. 

The boomer roared again and flung an arm towards another man. A series of knife blades and other cutting instruments emerged and sliced open the man's back, exposing bone and internal organs. Then there was a commotion by the main door as two security boomers attempted to push their way past the surge of frightened guests. People were flung aside until the boomers had a clear path to their malfunctioning brethren. They charged and griped the rogue boomer, flinging it back into a wall before pouncing on it. Caught in the grip of two boomers with superior strength, it wailed again. Then things went awry. The security boomers suddenly released their grasp on the rogue boomer and turned towards the humans, their eyes glowing a fierce red. As the westerner looked on, they began changing and mutating before his eyes, until there was almost no difference between them and the rogue boomer. 

Without warning, the window exploded inward, showering glass through the room as three figures broke through. He cringed away, thinking them more boomers, though they were different to the normal models. They shared a basic, feminine shape, though they bore what appeared to be a visor rather than the approximate facial features of normal boomers, but each also had separate trimmings and colour schemes. One was a deep blue, almost purple, the other green and the last a combination of red and pink. With incredible agility for a boomer, they leapt into the fray. Explosions rocked the rogue boomers wherever the blue one punched or kicked them. Others were sliced open by a pair of ribbons extending from the head of the green one, while the red and pink one kept back and harried the boomers with some sort of weapon mounted in its arm. 

Within moments it was over. The rogue boomers lay broken and non-functional after the attackers reached inside them and crushed their cores. Then they turned and left the way they came, paying no attention to the stunned guests. Moments later heavily armed troopers from the AD Police appeared and warily approached the remnants of the boomers. Seeing them already neutralized they set about securing the crime scene with an open air of frustration and attending to the frightened guests. Ambulances were summoned and first aide was administered to those that needed it, while those that were unharmed were interviewed and statements taken. 

Recovered now after the shock of the attack, the Westerner gave his statement, then was allowed to leave. Rushing downstairs to the street, he caught a taxi and sped back to his office at the Australian Embassy. 

*** 

Peter Wilson reloaded his pistol and placed another dozen holes through the head of the man shaped target in quick succession, his seventh for the morning. He reloaded again and replaced the target before squeezing off another dozen, putting all the bullets within a fraction of each other. 

He reloaded an eighth time and put up another target. The buildings basement pistol range was empty save for him and the Rangemaster. Not too many people in this building carried a gun and Peter was thankful the stiff necked bureaucracy above him hadn't yet gotten around to rewriting the requirements to do away with this range. 

Outwardly, Peter was unremarkable in most ways; thirty, of average height and weight, a strong, solid build and dark hair kept short. Handsome in a plain way. The sort of appearance that was able to easily blend into a crowd and hard to remember, which was a boon to his job. Yet anyone that studied him closer would quickly notice how lean he was, a fitness that rivaled that of most athletes. 

Peter squeezed another dozen rounds and checked his watch as he reloaded and almost dropped the round as he realize he was running late. He had to be in a meeting upstairs within a few minutes. With a resigned sigh, he unloaded his weapon and safed it before clearing his lane and moving to the cleaning tables where he striped and quickly wiped it down. By the time he had reassembled it and returned the unused the bullets, it was almost time and he had to hurry to catch the elevator. 

Stepping off at the fourth floor, Peter quickstepped down the corridor to Michael Dewhursts office, Field Services Manager, Operations Division of the Joint Intelligence Office, his boss. 

Dewhursts secretary, Margaret Moneypenny, looked up as he entered the outer office. "Oh, Pete, Mr Dewhurst said for you to meet him in the conference room." 

Peter rolled his eyes, turned on his heels and hurried out of the office. "Thanks Margaret." he called over his shoulder. The conference room was a few steps down the hall and large enough to accommodate over a dozen people, but presently only two men occupied it. One was short and well into his fifties, his face heavily lined with gray thinning hair with a noticeable bald spot. Yet Michael Dewhurst was still as sprite and quick as a man half his age. He sat at the head of the table and on his right was another man unknown to Peter. Middle-aged, balding and with a pair of thick glasses, Peter immediately figured him as an analyst or a case officer from one of their parent agencies. They both looked up from the folders they were reading as Peter entered and closed the door behind him. 

Dewhurst indicated for him to sit to his left. "Pete, do you know Stanely Roberts from ASIS?" 

"G'day. Pete Wilson." Peter said and shook the man's hand as he sat down. 

"Pleased to meet you. Stanely Roberts." he said. 

"Okay, now that introductions are out of the way, lets get this briefing started." Dewhurst said as he organised his notes and hurried through the standard introduction. "As with everything else we do, this briefing is classified and classed Secret. Only those present or otherwise mentioned are authorized to know the purpose for it and what is discussed here. Does everybody consent to that?" He already knew everybody did, but it was a formality that had to be observed.. He then continued on, reading from his notes and directing it to Peter. "The purpose for this briefing is to brief you on your next assignment. Mr Roberts will brief you on the situation, after which I will brief you the details of your assignment." He then indicated for Roberts to continue. 

The ASIS man passed a folder to Peter. "I understand from your file that you're fluent in Japanese?" 

"Amongst others. A lot of the places I go speak Japanese for various reasons, so it helps." Peter said and opened the folder. It was a dossier on the Genom Corporation, one of the large megacorporations that had come to dominate the world's economy in recent decades, and included detailed information about their boomer products. 

"Have you ever been to Japan?" 

"Once passing through, about three years ago. I was only there for a couple of hours and never left the airport, but Tokyo still looked pretty smashed up after that earthquake." 

"You're aware the city has been mostly rebuilt now, due mainly to the large supply of boomers that Genom Corporation has manufactured." 

Peter nodded and continued reading whilst keeping one ear on what Roberts was saying. 

"You're also aware that there has been some suspicion as to the safety and reliability of boomers. There's no substantial evidence, but there are too many persistent rumours of them malfunctioning to be ignored. These rumours along with recent trade disputes with Japan and political pressure from the trade unions and the Labor Party have led to us denying Genom Corporation an import license. Currently they are the sole patent holders for the boomer technology in the world, thus making boomers next to impossible to get here in Australia." 

"Believe me, it's more than just a rumour." Peter said. 

"I'm sorry, I don't follow you?" Roberts said. 

Dewhurst interjected. "Peter's not really a fan of boomers." 

"Really? So you've had encounters with them before?" 

"Something like that." Peter said. Roberts motioned for him to continue. Peter looked at Dewhurst. 

"He's cleared." Dewhurst said with a nod. 

"I was up in Borneo on a mission with a few SAS teams to take down a major drug and piracy operation. It was a pretty straightforward mission until Intel let us down and failed to notice that the bad guys had in their possession three boomers jury rigged with some major firepower. Damn things near tore us apart. I got shot twice and spent the next six months in hospital, and I was one of the lucky ones. Unless you're packing a tactical nuke, those bastards are damned near impossible to kill. Why something that tough is available commercially, I'll never understand." Peter said. 

Roberts jotted down a note on a pad, before continuing. "We believe Genom has many friends and 'paid associates' where it counts, both in politics and the media. We have a suspicion that they're censoring bad press about their products. Yet there are a large number of people who share your opinions. There's a general feeling of distrust towards boomers. Many see them as cheap labour taking away jobs, while others say they're too unsafe and should be destroyed." Roberts passed another folder to him. "Now, if you'll read this report, it will explain quite a bit about your assignment. 

Peter opened the file, taking note of the words 'SECRET' and 'AUSTRALIAN EYES ONLY' printed across the front. He skimmed through the cover page and saw it was a report filed by ASIS's Station Chief at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. Flipping over, he quickly read through the three page report, then went back and reread it to make sure he got it right the first time. Still not quite able to believe it, he went through and read it a third time, unconsciously shaking his head as he did. 

"Quite unbelievable, isn't it?" said Roberts. 

"Is this an intel report or a T.V. show?" Peter said as he closed the folder. "People wearing armoured suits and fighting hand to hand with those things. It's insane, pure and simple. You're sure the Station Chief hasn't lost his marbles?" 

"He underwent his yearly psychiatric review two days after writing that report. He passed with flying colours." Roberts said. 

"Well, I'll be goddamned!" Peter said and tossed the folder onto the table. "This is like something from a bad movie!" 

"That seems to be the general reaction to that report." Dewhurst said with a coy smile. 

"So I guess you want me to go over and check this out." Peter suggested. 

"Basically, but I'll get to that after Mr Roberts has finished with his situation briefing." said Dewhurst. 

Peter raised an eyebrow. "There's more?" 

"I mentioned earlier that Genom Corporation is the sole patent holder of this technology in the world. But now that looks set to change. Recently, an Australian company has developed it's own boomer technology, which is promising to be a lot safer and more reliable than the Japanese versions, and is now applying for a patent. If this company is granted one, it will mean billions of dollars in export sales and thousands of jobs, which I'm sure you understand has the government very excited. Our only worry is anti-boomer groups like these Knight Sabers. We need to determine what sort of threat they pose, if at all." 

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait a minute. Backup it up. Boomer's here? Since when?" 

"That's not your concern, Pete." Dewhurst said. 

"Sir?" 

"The government wants this, and that's all that matters. Now if Mr Roberts has finished with his briefing?" Dewhurst looked at Roberts, who indicated he had. "Okay. This operation will be codenamed Orca." Dewhurst passed another folder to Peter. "It is classified Secret and on a need-to-know basis. 

"Your objective will be to determine whether these Knight Sabers pose a threat to the Aussieboomer project. You will travel to Japan and conduct a covert investigation into the Knight Sabers to determine whether they exist. If so the extent of their operations, the structure of their organisation and the identities of the persons involved, and finally what their aims and objectives are and whether said aim's and objectives threaten or are detrimental to the Aussieboomer project and/or other national interests. 

"The exact method of your investigation will be left to your discretion. You will be assigned a team of four Surveillance Officers from ASIO and an ASIS field agent who's had some investigative experience. All of them are fluent in Japanese and two of the Surveillance Officers are from asian backgrounds. The operation will begin next Monday. We have you and your team booked on a flight to Japan on Friday, so that gives you the weekend to orientate yourselves. The company in question is seeking to apply for a patent in six months time, so this operation must be concluded a report finalized for presentation to the Director-General in five months." 

"Five months? That's not much time, particularly with such a small team." Peter pointed out. 

"True, but until the Station Chief's report, we had nothing reliable enough to warrant an investigation on something that may not have even existed. If you come across strong enough evidence, you can make a request for extra manpower. You will have full operational authority, but you will be reporting to the Tokyo Station Chief who will be liaising with us. You will be inserted in Japan under the cover of an APS team there to evaluate security at the Embassy." 

"I should be able to run this operation out of there." Peter thought aloud. 

"That's acceptable." agree Dewhurst. "You won't have diplomatic immunity, so don't go breaking any laws, or at the very least, don't get caught doing it. Do you have any questions." 

Peter nodded and indicated the Station Chief's report. "Is this all we have on the Knight Sabers?" 

Roberts answered. "Unfortunately, it's our only solid information. Video footage of them is hard to get, although news crews were present at several of their takedowns. Japanese police and the government don't admit their existence, instead stating that groups of anti-boomer vigilantes are responsible. Genom won't even admit that, saying they're just rumours spread by their competitors and aimed at damaging Genom's business. The Station Chief's eye witness account of them in action is the only reliable source we have to go on. There's more information on the internet, but we aren't able to verify its authenticity." 

"What else can you tell me about this Aussieboomer? Like how is it supposed to be better than Genom's?" 

"I can't reveal too much, but it is being designed from a safety point of view. Not only will there be quadruple independently redundant systems to prevent these boomers going rogue, but they will be physically incapable of harming humans." 

"How are they going to ensure that?" Peter asked sceptically. 

"It's pretty technical, and that's not my forte, but basically a chip separate from the boomers central processor constantly monitors its functions and should it detect any changes in the boomers behaviour, it automatically ejects the core." 

Peter recalled what he knew about boomers. The core was what made the technology possible. He supposed it was feasible to stop a boomer by destroying the core or at least separating it from the boomer. Yet he still wasn't comfortable with the idea of having boomers introduced into Australia. He pushed those thoughts aside for the time being. 

"When will I get a chance to met my team?" he asked. 

"They will arrive here at ten hundred hours on Wednesday so you can brief them." Dewhurst said. They already know they're going to Japan, but that's all they've been told. We'll also have all the paperwork ready by then. Any other questions?" 

Peter shook his head. "Not at the moment." 

"Then I'll adjourn this briefing." Dewhurst said and stood. Peter and Roberts also stood and Roberts handed him a business card. 

"You can contact me at this number if you need anything more." 

Peter pocketed the card, then shook the man's hand, collected his papers and left the room. He had a bit of work to do before Wednesday. 

*** 

The doorbell rang, forcing Peter off the couch with a grumble. Why were people always interrupting him when he was trying to watch T.V.? Always when there was something interesting on, never any other time. Maybe he should just get rid of it so he could get some peace and quiet. 

An old black Labrador/border collie cross looked up from its bed under the stairs as its master walked by, then went back to its dozing. Peter opened his front door, revealing a large blonde man of about the same age as him dressed in Army greens and with a Major's rank on the epaulettes. 

"Jesus Christ, Bill! I was trying to watch some T.V.!" Peter griped. 

"My heart bleeds for you." Bill Hawkins said with a sarcastic grin. "Now you get to watch me instead." 

"Isn't stuff like you supposed to be censored?" Peter said as he let him in. 

"Supposed to be, mate." Bill said as they shook hands. Not what one would call handsome, Bill had an honest and friendly face and manner that endeared him to everyone, yet he had the same hard look in his eyes that Peter had. 

Bill and Peter had been friends ever since before they were old enough for school. A pair of little terrors, they were always getting themselves into some trouble, though they had the good sense to steer clear of anything too dangerous. Mostly they were just out for a bit of fun. After graduating from high school, they had both entered the Army directly through the Royal Military College at Duntroon, short cutting the typical officer induction and training, done through the Australian Defence Force Academy right next door, by a year and a half. Immediately upon graduation, both tested for the Special Air Services branch and began their lives in Special Operations. But for Peter that ended only a few short years later when he was head hunted by the JIO. Bill, instead, continued on in Spec Ops, finally being promoted to Major and placed in command of the SAS squadron based in Canberra, ready to react to any attacks on the government. 

"So come in." Peter said as he closed the door and stepped back to allow Bill into his small townhouse. "Beer?" 

"Yeah, thanks mate." Bill said as they started through the living room for the small kitchen. "I got your message. Where're you off to this time?" Bill said. Sam, the tired old dog, finally realizing there was someone in its home, picked itself up and wandered over to sniff the arrival. Bill gave him a pat and a gentle scratch behind the ears, before the contented dog wandered back to its bed for some more sleep. 

"Japan, mate." Peter said as he pulled two beers from the fridge and passed one to Bill. 

"Thanks." Bill unscrewed the cap and took a swig. "Japan? That's a bit different." 

"Yeah I know. No field rations or having to catch and kill dinner this time." Peter said as he took a swig from his beer. 

"Oh I don't know about that." Bill said with a grin. "You hate sushi." 

"The American's have had a presence there for nearly a hundred years. I'm sure I'll be able to get my hands on a few burgers or something." Peter said, shrugging off Bill's jab. "Cheers." he said and they clinked their beer bottles, then headed for the couch. 

"You don't mind watching the animals for me while I'm gone, do you?" 

"Nah, mate. I'd love to have 'em." Bill said as they sat down in front the T.V. "Hey, did I tell you? Looks like I'm being transferred back to Perth." 

"Back to regular SAS?" 

"Yep. No more baby sitting politicians. It's back to Borneo and Java to kill pirates, terrorists and drug dealers." 

Peter offered a congratulatory hand to his friend. "Good for you, mate! Hell, we might even run into each other now and then." 

"Yeah, that would be good. How often do you go north?" 

"Not allowed to say." 

"Damned secrecy." Bill said as he took a mouthful. 

*** 

Peter waited in the JIO lobby as the two cars pulled up outside the front doors and deposited their five passengers before driving off again. Peter watched them as they entered. Three men and two women, two asians, a man and a woman, both in their mid to late twenties. Two whites, also a man and a woman. The man was about Peter's age, but the woman looked about ten years younger and Peter figured her as a new recruit. The final man was a tall Aboriginal about five years older than Peter. 

Peter stepped forward and introduced himself. "G'day. I'm Pete Wilson. You must be the guys from ASIO?" 

The Aboriginal took his hand smiled broadly, flashing pearly white teeth against his black skin. "G'day man. Matt Shearer. This is John Cooper, Mary Whitford, Charles Rhee and Anne Yang." he said, introducing his colleagues. 

Peter shook their hands. "Pleasure. Welcome to the JIO. If you would come with me, I'll brief you on our job." he said as he guided them towards the elevators. 

Matt fell into step beside him. "So I hear we're going to Japan?" 

"Yeah. Hope you like sushi?" 

"Love it, man." 

"That's good, cause I hate the shit." 

"Just give it to me man, I'll eat it all." Matt said with a chuckle. Peter judged right away that he was quick to laugh. Matt was the senior surveillance officer and head of this team. 

"So, what is the JIO? I've never heard of it." asked Mary Whitford, the young recruit. 

"The Joint Intelligence Office. We're basically, as the name implies, a joint operation run by ASIS and ASIO to identify, evaluate and counteract external threats to Australia's internal security. You've never heard of us because we don't encourage gossip." 

"So you're black ops?" asked John Cooper. 

"Not really. We're an official government organisation that's acknowledged by parliament and subject to ministerial oversight. We just don't advertise like ASIS or ASIO do, and we shy away from publicity. But you didn't hear any of that from me." 

"Understood." Matt said with a sly grin as they boarded the elevator. Peter punched the button for the third floor. As the elevator rumbled upwards, Peter quickly filled them in on the history of the JIO. 

Ever since the late 1990's, the once tranquil Pacific and South East Asia region had become a hotbed of violence and lawlessness. Rising ethnic and religious tensions and independence movements had torn apart the old Republic of Indonesia and turned the worlds largest archipelago into a mishmash of tiny island states and independent provinces. Conflict became common place between rival ethnic gangs as warlords and militia's terrorised the mostly poor and agrarian people. 

Many attempts were made by the United Nations and western countries to reunite the various factions under a new democratic government, but every effort met with failure as tensions and bloodshed escalated, fueled by secret weapons sales by several of the Mega-coporations that had recently emerged to dominate the world's economy. 

Finally, after many years, some sort of order began to emerge as various islands and former provinces declared themselves independent states. Many however lacked the resources and experience to go it alone, while others were refused aid and recognition by foreign powers for various reasons, usually because they were led by men wanted for war crimes. These states turned to less agreeable means of making money, namely piracy and drugs. 

The growing threat to international shipping from pirates and to western societies from the cheap drugs being produced in the region resulted in developed countries taking more forceful measures. Warships actively patrolled the shipping lanes through the region while soldiers were sent to hunt down and destroy drug plantations and protect aid efforts. 

But the warlords and drug barons weren't going to sit idly by and watch their livelihoods be destroyed by western powers. Instead they struck back, and a new wave of terrorism swept the globe. Australia became a primary target for these terrorists due as much to its leading role in the ongoing war as it was to its proximity to the region and stability, leading to it becoming the base of operations for much of the western worlds efforts. 

As if that wasn't enough, the threat from China was growing, due to Australia's relationship with the United States as those two superpowers faced off over Taiwan. And without the buffer zone that Indonesia had once provided against an attack from the north, Australia's coastline was now exposed should China choose to open up a second front in the coming war that many saw as inevitable. 

With these new threats, Australia's current defences were judged inadequate, and several new measures were taken, including the formation of the JIO. The JIO was initially tasked with liaising between the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Australia's foreign intelligence service, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australia's domestic intelligence and counterespionage service. 

However as the threats grew and the attacks increased, so did the JIO's responsibilities. From its original mission of liaison, intelligence gathering and analysis, counterespionage and black ops were later added, and specialized paramilitary units were formed for operations throughout the region. Many of the men who made up these units were pilfered from the Army's Commando companies and SAS squadrons, including Peter who had led a SAS unit as a Lieutenant until being lured away to the JIO by promises of plenty of action and not many rewards. But of course Peter didn't tell his surveillance team that. Not right away at least. 

They arrived on the third floor where Peter led them to a conference room. They entered and Peter indicated for everyone to take a seat. As they sat, he handed out folders marked with the classification 'SECRET'. "If you'll all just take a moment and read what's in your folders, that will pretty much explain what we'll be doing." Everyone opened their folders and began reading while Peter patiently sat and waited for them to finish. 

After about five minutes, John Cooper looked up with an incredulous look on his face. "You can't be serious!" 

"Dead serious, mate. The JIO doesn't have a sense of humour, as I've found out many times." Peter said. 

"You mean stuff like this really happens?" Anne Yang asked wide-eyed. 

"Apparently. Believe me, I was as surprised as you lot are when I first heard about it, and it takes a lot to surprise me these days." He paused and saw that everyone had finished reading their reports. 

"Well, now that you've all finished, I'll get into why we're here. Basically, we have to investigate these Knight Sabers and, one," Peter said, counting them off on his fingers, "determine if they exist. Two, determine if they're a threat. And three, take actions to neutralize that threat if so ordered." 

"What do you mean by neutralize?" asked Mary, her young face pale from thinly concealed fear and nervousness at being chosen for such an extraordinary assignment. 

"Probably better you don't know." Peter said, deciding she most likely wouldn't react well to that possibility. "Besides, you won't have anything to do with that." 

"How likely is that possibility?" asked Matt. 

"Don't know. We don't have enough hard information to even hazard a guess." 

"And that's our job to get that information." 

"Got it in one, mate." Peter said. 

"What sort of investigation will we be conducting?" Matt asked. 

"One with limited resources. Just the six of us, though the JIO will be picking up all expenses. As you read, it's estimated these Knight Sabers are a highly organised, well armed and well funded group. They most likely have no more than a dozen members, all known to each other, which will make infiltration next to impossible. We have no idea where to find these Knight Sabers, so we're going to have to wait until they are drawn out by one of these boomers turning hostile. Fortunately that seems to happen quite frequently in Japan, so we shouldn't be sitting on our arses too long. 

"People, catching the Knight Sabers is not going to be easy. It's going to require quite a bit of luck. The Japanese police have so far had no luck tracking them down, and I've recently been informed that they are now regarding them as terrorists. Fortunately, we aren't constrained by the legal noose like the cops are, but it's still going take every ounce of our skill and training just to find them. Though that will most likely be the hard part. After we find them, I'm sure we can then settle down to a nice, quiet routine of surveillance and investigation. This will be very similar to counterespionage, so you lot ought to feel right at home." he finished off with a grin. The looks he got told him they all doubted that. 

*** 

MegaTokyo airspace port was a lot busier than Peter remembered. But what had been the rubble of old Tokyo when he had last visited was now a bustling city ten times the size. Peter and his team, as he was now thinking of the five surveillance officers he led, were all dressed in suits and had flown business class. All of them carried forged Australian Protective Services ID's, and Peter even carried some false paperwork to lend credence to their cover. 

The first thing they all noticed was the large number of androids, these so named 'boomers', that were around, performing the menial jobs that humans used to do for minimum wage. Peter watched each and every one of them extra carefully, alert for any signs that they were about to malfunction. 'Going rogue' as it was called here. Peter thought it an overly understated term for going on a murderously destructive rampage. 

After passing through customs and immigration, they collected their luggage and joined the crowd surging into the arrivals lounge. There they found the waiting Embassy official. 

"G'day. Pete Wilson and team." Peter said as he produced his fake APS ID. 

"Welcome to Japan. If you'll follow me, sir, I'll take you to the Embassy." The man said and led them outside to a waiting mini van. 

The drive to the Embassy would have been a quick one, but for the traffic. The Australian Embassy was located with the embassies from several other countries near the Japanese government district. There was little in the way of talk on the ride in, everyone was weary from the early start and long flight. 

When they finally arrived at the Embassy, the official pulled into the parking garage, then escorted Peter up to the fifth floor office of the Deputy Advisor to the Commissioner for Trade, the Embassy's Station Chief. The rest of the team was led by another staffer to a lounge where they could relax and wait. 

Because Japan was a friendly nation, not much in the way of political and military spying occurred. However, because it was one of the economic powerhouses of the world and Australia's largest trading partner, there was a great deal of economic spying. The Station Chief was the top spy in the country who ran the many spy networks and doubled as a legitimate diplomat. The Tokyo Station Chief was a man by the name of Andrew Upham. He was a short man and slightly tubby, obviously a result of all the fine foods served at the many functions he attended and not enough exercise. He was in his mid forties and balding with a bad comb over. He was also one of ASIS's top economic spies, if Peter recalled correctly. 

Upham rose from his desk and crossed his office to greet his new arrival. "Hello. I'm Andrew Upham. Welcome to Japan." he said as he shook Peter's hand 

Peter introduced himself. "Pete Wilson. How're things?" 

"Not bad. Why don't you please have a seat." he said, gesturing to the many chairs around his relatively spacious office. Peter sat across the desk from Upham and quickly examined the room. There was a small window with a not unpleasant view over a park. Most of the walls held bookshelves that were crammed with books, mostly on business, economics and international trade. Uphams desk was similarly nonchalant, with a few writing utensils, a computer and videophone, and a hologram picture of his family. 

"Is it okay to talk here?" Peter asked as Upham sat down. 

Upham nodded. "Wouldn't be much of a Station Chief if I couldn't talk about things in my own office." 

"I read your report and everything else I could get on these Knight Sabers. Do you have any more to add about them?" 

"Just what's in my report." 

"Would you mind going over it again?" Peter asked, leaning forward slightly. 

"What I can remember, certainly. I was attending a black tie dinner over at Mercer Corporations Japan headquarters when a boomer in the kitchen went crazy. I'd heard about those things before, but I'd never seen one happen till then. It was like a nightmare. Anyway, it tore apart the kitchen before smashing its way into the dining room. It was upturning tables and slashing anyone that came near with these inbuilt knives and cooking utensils. Mercer's security boomers where sent in to stop it, and they managed to damage it somewhat until they too turned rogue. I don't know, it must be contagious or something. 

"So now there's three malfunctioning boomers and the AD Police were still five minutes away. That's when these three people in suits of powered armour came bursting through the window. Took them all of half a minute to kill those boomers. I was impressed. Then they just turned around and left, just before the cops got there. 

"I had to hang around for another half hour whilst the cops took my statement, but after that I raced back here and wrote down everything I saw. I figured someone in Canberra would be interested in it." his eyes narrowed slightly. "I was told you were coming and what you'd be doing, but I wasn't told why. This is more than just a fact finding tour, isn't it?" 

"Sorry, but if Canberra didn't tell you, what makes you think I can." Peter said. 

Upham sighed and smiled. "Well you can't blame me for trying. Besides," he added with a twinkle in his eye, "we're spies. It's in our nature. But I digress. How were you planning on conducting your investigation?" 

"Low key to start off with. I don't really have the manpower for anything else. At the moment I just want to observe them in action for a bit and try and get a feel for their tactics and MO. We'll see where we go after that." 

Upham nodded slowly. "I'm afraid I can't help you with that. I'm a business spy. I wouldn't have the first clue about combat." 

"Don't worry. I know a thing or two about that." Peter said, being intentionally vague. 

Upham smiled. "Thought you might. You'll need it if you go chasing these Knight Sabers." 

"I can take care of myself." Peter said with no false bravado. "What are conditions like locally?" he asked, changing the topic. 

"It's bad and getting worse all the time. The AD Police try, but they can't be everywhere at once." 

"And the boomers are." Peter finished for him. "Our gear still due in tomorrow?" he asked. 

Upham nodded. "Special delivery. Full diplomatic tags all the way through. Japanese customs won't touch it." 

"Good. That ought to keep the prying, bureaucratic eyes away from it, though a couple of people are going to be wonder why the embassy didn't buy new computers locally." Peter said. 

"The story is the departmental contract went to a company in a marginal government seat. Everything's politics." 

"Everything is." Peter nodded and glanced at his watch. "We'll unless there's anything else, I'd best go get my team and check into our hotel." 

Upham nodded and stood to show him out. "The Fubuchi. You'll like it. It's not five star, but it will fit with your cover." 

Peter yawned and stretched as he stood. "Frankly after that plane ride, anything will do." 

"It is a fair haul, isn't it." Upham agreed as he let Peter out. "I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning for a briefing. I get in at eight." 

Peter checked his watch again out of habit. "Sounds good. I'll see you then." He stepped out of the office and Upham closed the door behind him. The official who greeted him at the airport was waiting for him outside. 

"If you'll come with me, sir, I'll take you to your hotel." Peter agreed and followed the official downstairs to the street, detouring to collect the rest of Peter's team along the way. 

*** 

The Fubuchi was a moderately priced hotel a short walk up the street from the Embassy where the many minor officials visiting Japan were accommodated. The official checked them in and walked them to their rooms, before heading back to work. 

Peter entered his room on the ninth floor, dropped his bags by the door and walked immediately to the window. Opening it, he looked around. The hotel was situated on a corner and Peter's room overlooked a major arterial road. There were many high rise buildings across the street which looked like a mix of office and apartment blocks. Peter closed the window and drew the curtains, then flopped back on his bed and fell into a fitful sleep. 

*** 

Peter woke early the next morning, a little before six. After a few stretches to get the blood flowing, he pulled on shorts and a T-shirt and jogging shoes and headed downstairs to the street. He started a slow run around the block, keeping it easy till he got his bearings in the unfamiliar territory. Passing the Australian Embassy he heard a loud roar above him. Looking up, he saw a helicopter take off from the roof of the embassy. Finding it curious, he filed it away in his mind to be brought up later. 

After running without incident for a while longer, he arrived back at the hotel shortly after half past seven where he showered and shaved, followed by a quick breakfast delivered by room service. At quarter to eight he collected the rest of his team and walked briskly back to the Embassy. 

In the Embassy's secure conference room on the top floor they found Upham and another man waiting for them. The other man was tall, with a bald head and a severe look to him that made it difficult for Peter to judge his age. Upham stood and waved for everyone to take a seat. He then sat at the head of the table with the unknown man on his right. Peter sat opposite the man with his team filling down the table. After everyone was settled, Upham conducted the introductions. "Mr Wilson, this is Dick Johnson, head of Embassy security." Pete and the man shook hands and exchanged greetings. "Mr Johnson is also our resident Knight Saber expert. He's been following them since they were first reported." 

"It's part of my job to be aware of any threats to Embassy security." Johnson explained. 

"Anything new you can tell us?" Peter asked. 

"Well what do you know so far?" 

"Not enough. They wear powered armour suits and fight boomers that have gone rogue, often getting there before the cops do. They are either vigilantes or mercenaries and their suits appear to be years ahead of anything anybody else has. We're not even sure how many there are. We've seen reports ranging from two to two dozen." 

"I'm pretty sure there's less than half a dozen." Johnson said. "Up until a couple of months ago, most reliable sightings were of two figures, one wearing armour coloured either dark blue or dark purple, we're not sure, and one wearing red and pink. Then a new one in green armour began appearing alongside the first two. There used to be sightings of one wearing white armour, but not for a while now. 

"So we have possibly four suspects." Peter said. "Could we maybe see a map of all reported sightings?" 

Johnson keyed in a few controls on the desktop and a map of Tokyo was projected on the wall. Dozens of red dots indicated all reported sightings of the Knight Sabers. 

"There doesn't appear to be any pattern to it." commented Mary. 

"There isn't. I've run it through the computer hundreds of times, it's completely random. I've even tried to extrapolate the location of their base based on time from the boomers going rogue till the time the Knight Sabers appear, but all I get is a half dozen areas covering several blocks scattered from one end of the city to the other." Johnson said. 

"Have you tried hacking the police computers to see what they've got?" Peter asked. 

"Several times, but we keep getting blocked when we try to access the Knight Sabers files. I think the Knight Sabers monitor the computers of both the AD Police and the regular Police." 

"So they know to cover their tracks. That means we're dealing either with professionals with covert ops training or amateurs with brains." Peter concluded. 

"I'd lean more towards the amateurs." said Johnson. "They've developed too high a profile for them to be professionals." 

Peter nodded. "I agree. This is nothing like what I would do if I were in their position." 

Upham spoke. "So what's your plan?" 

"Like I told you last night. We wait and watch until we catch these guys in action a couple of times. From that we can establish their MO, and then take it from there." 

"Just how do you propose to 'catch them in action'?" Upham asked. 

"This morning I noticed a helicopter taking off from the Embassy roof. Whose was it?" 

"That would be the Ambassador's private helicopter. He uses it to fly to appointments outside Tokyo. It's quicker and a lot more economical than an armoured limo with a police escort." Upham said. 

"Would he mind if we borrowed it when an incident occurs?" 

"I doubt it. The ambassador believes what the Japanese politicians and diplomats tell him; that rogue boomer stories are just urban legends and that boomers are totally safe." Upham said. 

"Though he might be persuaded if pressure was applied from Canberra." Johnson said with a coy smile. 

Peter smiled. He knew right then that he would get along well with this man. "I'll talk to my boss about that." 

"Better do it soon. Most boomer incidents occur at night, and we haven't had any for a few days. I think we're overdue." Johnson said. 

"Yeah, I'll get right on it. For the rest of the day, I reckon we should look through everything you've got on boomers and the Knight Sabers." Peter said. "I'll send Matt and Charles here out to the airport to pick up our shipment. Plus we'll need to hire a couple of cars. Know where we can do that?" 

"We'll take care of it." Johnson said. "We have an arrangement with a local car dealership. What are you looking for?" 

"Something that won't look out of place in any part of the city, but with a navigation system." Peter said. Johnson nodded. 

"We'll, since we've all got something to do, I'll adjourn this meeting. We'll meet here every morning at the same time for daily briefings and progress reports. Good morning." Upham said as he stood, collected his papers and left. Everyone followed suit and went to their normal work or assigned jobs. 

*** 

Peter sat in the Embassy's security centre, sipping a coffee as he poured over a sighting report on the Knight Sabers, looking for anything that might give him a clue as to their identity or motives. He looked up as he heard the door open and saw Johnson walk in. 

"Burning the midnight oil?" the security chief asked. 

Peter checked his watch. It read 23:49. "No. You?" 

Johnson shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do." He walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. "I've got a feeling there's going to be an incident tonight. Like I said, we're overdue, and since you guys are here I've got to stay here at the Embassy." 

Peter stretched. "In a way, I kinda hope you're right. Paperwork was never my thing, and I'm itching for some action." 

"I thought that's what you intelligence boys did, read stuff and figure things out." Johnson said, pulling up a chair and sitting down. 

"I'm more on the field ops side of things. Can't say much, but I'm not an Intelligence Officer." 

Johnson nodded in understanding and was about to say something more when a security officer at one of the many work stations in the centre spoke up. 

"Sir, sounds like something's up with the AD Police. I'll think you'll want to hear this!" the man called and switched on the speaker. For a few moments all they heard was static, then a voice filled the room, a pilot's judging from the background noise. "_All units, all units!" _it cried_. "We've got a mad boomer that's fused with a racer tearing up the Gulf freeway in the KS Quadrant. All pursuit units are ordered to respond!_" 

"This sounds like it!" Peter cried as he jumped to his feet and raced for the door. He pulled a radio from his pocket and spoke into it. "This is Two. We got a real one. Gulf Freeway, KS Quadrant. Units one and two get rolling. Matt and I are headed for the chopper." Peter shoved the radio back in his pocket as he raced up the stairs to the roof. Flinging open the door, he found the Ambassadors helicopter already rotating and Matt holding the door open for him. Peter ran and jumped aboard and Matt yelled for the pilot to take off. Within moments they were airborne and headed for the coastal highway as Peter was still struggling to fasten his belt. "How long?" he asked the pilot. 

"Five minutes sir," the pilot responded. "but ADP's already set up an air exclusion zone around the area. We can't get within five kilometres of the boomer." 

"Can't we get diplomatic clearance?" asked Matt. 

"Not without the Ambassador aboard." the pilot replied. 

"Five kays is close enough." Peter said. "Lets get our gear set up." 

By the time they reached the air exclusion zone, Peter and Matt had set up their equipment, including several radio scanners, electromagnetic field detectors, video camera's, audio amplification equipment and even a miniature radar that would track anything moving relative to the helicopters speed and direction within a hundred feet of the ground. 

Peter sat studying the radar's display in his lap. He could pick out the boomer tearing down the highway at over three hundred kilometre's an hour and several police cars forming a cordon around it, keeping the public at bay. He pointed at one track a kilometre behind the boomer. "Judging from the amount of radio traffic coming from this car here, I'd say that's the field commander's vehicle." he said over the helicopters intercom. "Sounds like either a Detective McNichol or Wong is in charge. I can't really tell which." 

Matt leaned over his shoulder from the back seat. "I'd say you're right." he pointed to another track a kilometre behind the police cordon. "What's this here?" 

Peter moved the radar's signal interrogator over the track and studied the readings. "Looks like a truck." 

"A truck that just happens to be staying a kilometre behind the cops." Matt pointed out. 

Peter picked up a pair of eletrobinoculars and looked through them towards the highway. "Yeah, that is kind of fishy now that you mention it. I got it now." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like a large delivery truck. Start filming it, just in case." Peter ordered. Matt grabbed a camera with a large zoom lens. 

Peter held the binoculars with one hand and thumbed his radio with the other. "Unit Two?" 

"Unit Two, over." Mary replied. 

"There's a large delivery truck holding about a kilometre behind the police cordon. Get on their arse and stay there." 

"Copy that. We're on it. Two out." 

A couple of minutes went by without much else happening. Matt spoke with irritation in his voice. "Man, you think anything's going to happen soon?" 

"Patience, mate. You of all people ought to know you can't rush these things." 

Matt sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just hate to wait." Matt was silent a moment, then suddenly spoke out excitedly. "Man, there's something happening!" 

Peter held the binoculars closer to his face, as if trying to pull the scene close to him. Through the binoculars, he watched as the top of the truck opened up. A flash of light filled his vision for a moment, and he saw the silhouettes of two figures leap from the truck with amazing speed. "TRACK 'EM!" he yelled as he automatically moved the binoculars to follow them. 

"I got 'em!" confirmed Matt. 

"Two, Unit Two here." Peter's radio squawked. "We just saw two something's, I wouldn't call them people, rocket out of the truck, over." 

"Copy that." Peter replied. "We saw 'em too. We're tracking 'em from up here." he said as he stared at them through his binoculars. "I think this is them! One wearing red and pink, the other green. That has to be the Knight Sabers." 

"No shit, Sherlock?" Matt replied. "Jesus Christ! Would you look at that!" he exclaimed. 

"I see it, but I don't bloody well believe it." Peter agreed as he saw the two figures touch down on the road and take off at a sprint. "I don't believe this! They're overtaking a speeding police car _on foot_!" Peter said incredulously. "Tell me you're getting this!" he said to Matt. 

"I'm getting it, man!" Matt confirmed. Peter tore his eyes away from the incredible sight long enough to check the radar display. "Fuck me! Their ground speed's nearly four hundred kilometre's an hour!" 

"They can't be human." Matt said. 

"Definitely." Peter agreed. "Okay, they're approaching the boomer. Let's see what they do." 

They watched, Matt through the camera and Peter through his binoculars, as the two Knight Sabers quickly gained on the speeding boomer. When they levelled with it, the smaller one in red and pink leapt, thrust out its arm and appeared to fire a weapon at the boomer. Peter watched the boomer's head jerk as something struck it, but otherwise appeared unharmed. The green one then leapt aboard boomers racer, but was easily shrugged off. The green Knight Saber struck the ground, rolled and came to its feet and took off after the boomer again without loosing too much ground. 

"Incredible!" Peter breathed. 

"Two, this is Unit Two, over." the radio squawked. 

"Two." Peter replied. 

"The trucks breaking off and heading back into the city. Do you want us to follow? Over." 

"Discreetly. Make sure you're not spotted." 

"We're on it. Unit Two out." Mary confirmed. 

Peter focused his attention on the scene playing out on the highway below them. The two Knight Sabers now seemed to be content to just run behind the boomer and not attack it. After a few moments the radio squawked again. "Two, Unit Two. We've lost the contact. It turned onto some back streets and we broke off rather than risk exposure. Over." 

Peter picked up the radio. "That's okay. Head back to the highway, we've still got two Knight Sabers here." 

"Copy that. Unit Two out." came the reply. 

Nothing happened for the next several minutes except that the two Knight Sabers seemed to be tiring. Then John came over the radio. "Two, Unit One. We just had something in armour on a motorbike pass us in the opposite direction." 

"Going towards the boomer?" Peter asked for clarification. 

"Affirmative." 

"Was it a Knight Saber?" 

"Well, seeing as I've never seen anything else like it, I'd have to say 'yeah'." 

"Copy that. Hold your position." Peter said. He peered through the binoculars again and saw the other two Knight Sabers come to a screeching stop. "What's going on now?" he said to himself as he followed their gaze past the boomer. "Christ! John wasn't kidding. Matt, you got the third one?" 

"I see him. Nice bike." 

"Yeah, though I'm wondering why they need a bike at all if those suits can move that fast." 

"I'm actually wondering what he plans on doing with that bike now." Matt said. "Looks like he's planning on ramming that thing!" 

"He's crazy!" Peter said as he watched. The third Knight Saber, this one dressed in a dark bluish hue, drove the bike head on for the boomer. Just before they impacted, the Knight Saber pulled the front wheel of the bike up and used he's momentum to bounce off the front of racer and sail over the boomer. The Knight Saber thrust out his arm and punched the boomer in the chest. A focused explosion ripped through the boomer, carving a large hole in it. 

The Knight Saber landed expertly, turned his bike and took off after the boomer again. As he gained ground, the Knight Saber crouched lower down on the bike and, what Peter could only guess to be armour plating, enveloped the bike and rider to create a more aerodynamic shape. The mounted Knight Saber leapt forward and quickly closed the gap between him and the boomer. Once again the Knight Saber leapt over the boomer, this time rolling so he punched the boomer from behind. Another explosion ripped through the boomer, this time destroying its core. The Knight Saber landed and stopped to watch the boomer careen out of control, smash through the highway's concrete barrier and crash into the harbour below. Then, with what looked like a self satisfied nod to himself, the Knight Saber turned and sped away. 

"Stay with him!" Peter cried. "What's happened with those other two?" 

"They took off." Matt said. "Headed into the city, where we lost 'em." 

"Okay. We'll stay with the one on the bike then." Peter picked up the radio. "Units One and Two, keep back from the bike. We'll follow 'em from here." 

Mary and John both acknowledged and Peter directed the pilot to follow the remaining Knight Saber. 

The pilot dipped the choppers nose to accelerate and also pulled up on the collective, taking them higher. For several minutes they followed the Knight Saber as he sped down an off-ramp and onto the streets of the city. After taking a twisting route through several alleys and back streets, the Knight Saber met up with the large truck again. 

"Units One and Two, we've located the truck rendezvousing with the third Knight Saber in an alley," he quickly read off the GPS coordinates. "Get over there and get a tail on them. We'll observe from the air." 

Mary and John both responded and Peter soon spotted them trailing the truck as it drove through the city. "This ain't going to be easy, mate." Matt said. "We've only got two cars and if their smart, they're going to be watching for a tail." 

Sure enough, the truck soon left the main road and turned onto some back streets. Unit Two, who had been following the truck till then, drove straight ahead, instead letting Unit One behind them take the turn. 

As the truck wound it's way through the streets, both cars took turns following it. When the truck made a turn, the car behind would break off and the other would race to take up position behind it, all directed by Peter in the helicopter. 

*** 

Sylia Stingray turned into yet another street and watched the rearview mirror. As expected the car behind them drove straight ahead, ignoring the turn. A few moments later another car appeared behind them from a side street. 

"We're being followed." she said as she made another turn. 

Priss Asagiri, dressed only in her skin suit, stuck her head into the drivers compartment. "Where?" she asked. 

"Two cars, switching off behind us and a helicopter." Sylia said, pointing into the air out the windscreen. 

"ADP?" the singer asked. 

Young Nene Romanova stuck her head through as well. "No. Neither the ADP or the regular cops use those sorts of cars, and that helicopter's a purely civilian model." 

"Then who is it?" Linna Yamazaki asked, trying to crowd in as well. 

"I don't know. Hold on. I'm going to try and loose them." Sylia said as she floored the accelerator and threw the Mobile Pit around a corner. 

*** 

"Damn! They've spotted us." Peter cursed. He picked up the radio. "All units break off, we've been spotted. Rendezvous back at the Embassy. We'll debrief in the morning. Good work everybody." 

"Well that was interesting, man." Matt said as he put the video camera down and relaxed back in his seat. 

Peter twisted around to look at him. "Mate, that's the understatement of the century." 

Matt grinned, flashing pearly white teeth against his black skin. "It's all in good faith, man." 

*** 

"That was easier than I thought." Sylia commented. 

"Have we lost them already?" Nena asked. "Man, they mustn't be very good then!" 

"We didn't loose them, they broke off." Priss said, peeling the skin suit off herself. 

"But why?" Linna asked. 

"Because they realized that they'd been spotted." Sylia said. "They're trying to keep a low profile." 

"What does that mean?" Linna said. 

Sylia's eyes narrowed as she thought about the question and it's ramifications. "I'm not sure." she said. 

*** 

Peter stalked into the conference room, carrying a sheaf of papers in one hand and an extra large cup of coffee in the other. Dark rings below his eyes told of how little sleep he had gotten the night before, so rapt in the events of that night was his mind that it just kept replaying it in his head. Nothing in all his years of combat had prepared him for it. In a way, it was like his first taste of battle all over again, with the lingering psychological effects that accompany it. While it was combat, it was also alien to him. The weapons and tactics used were unfamiliar, and the enemy hadn't even been human. The whole experience had just been so gung-ho, a professional like Peter had trouble believing it had actually happened, and it had gotten to him. 

While no stranger to sleep deprivation, he was usually only subjected to such torture in a combat situation where the added adrenaline in his system kept him awake and alert, but now all he had to rely on was the caffeine in the coffee. 

He looked around at everyone seated at the table and saw that Johnson and the rest of his team had gotten just as little sleep as he had. The only one who was fresh and alert this morning was Upham. 

"Well, I see you all had a big night last night." the Station Chief commented. 

"Yeah, sorry you missed it." Grumbled John from down the table as Peter took his seat across from Johnson. Upham ignored him. 

"Well, shall we start with what the hell happened last night?" 

Peter nodded and proceeded to relate what happened, indelibly etched in his memory from half a night of thinking about it. 

"Quite a story. You got all this on video?" Upham asked after Peter had finished. 

Peter tapped a few controls on the desk and the footage shot last night was projected onto the wall. They watched it through once in silence, then Peter rewound the tape and played it through again, this time adding comments and observations. 

"These suits they wear are just incredible. Not only do they provide protection, but they also seem to increase the wearers strength and speed." Peter said as they saw the red and green Knight Sabers overtake the police car. 

"Are you sure they're human and not a machine?" Upham asked. 

Peter fast forwarded the tape to just before the two Knight Sabers broke off their pursuit. "Positive. By this time a machine would still be going strong, but these two are showing signs of fatigue and tiredness. Their body posture and the way they move are the same as someone who has overexerted themselves and is about to drop from exhaustion." 

"What do we know about their weapons?" Upham asked. 

Peter rewound the tape to just before the Red Knight Saber fired his weapon at the boomers head. Peter let that play through then rewound it again, this time pausing just as the Knight Saber fired. "If we pause here, then zoom in and enhance the image," Peter said as the computer zoomed in on the Knight Sabers arm. As the image enhancement software made several sweeps of the screen, several small spike like objects became visible. "we can get a good look at the ammunition fired by the Red Knight Saber." 

"They look like nails." Upham commented. 

"A rail gun." Johnson said. "Nasty." 

"What's a rail gun?" Upham asked. 

"It's a gun that uses a magnetic pulse to fire spike like nails instead of conventional bullets. They're designed for armour piercing and aren't as lethal as a bullet, but because of their size they do a lot more damage." Johnson said. 

"So what does that tell us." 

"It means that by using a rail gun instead of armour piercing bullets, which are much more effective but also deadlier when used against humans, they're trying to limit civilian casualties." 

"For what reason?" 

"It could be any number of them." Peter said. "Could be for the PR, could be for liability, or maybe they just don't like hurting people." 

"It could also be to avoid any serious investigation of them." Johnson said. "The regular cops have over a dozen warrants out for their arrest, but the most serious charges brought against them are illegal weapons possession, interfering with police investigations and destruction of private property. Both the regular cops and the ADP view them as each others problem, so there's been no concerted effort to investigate them. But that would change if they were wanted for murder. So far the only deaths in Knight Saber related cases have been caused by the rampaging boomers or an unlucky cop with poor aim." 

Peter nodded. "It's no fun having a murder charge hung round your neck. That could be a good explanation for the rail gun. That and nails are easier to remove surgically than a bullet." 

"What of the green one?" Upham asked. 

Peter played the tape to the point where the Green Knight Saber leapt onto the racer. "This one has no weapons that I can identify. The only thing that could be possibly be thought of as a weapon would be these electrified whip like ribbons coming from the back of his helmet." 

"That doesn't sound like a very effective weapon." Johnson commented. "Maybe you just missed it." 

"Maybe." Peter said. He paused the video, then enlarged the image till the Green Knight Saber filled the screen. He got up and walked to the wall for a closer look. After studying the image for a few minutes he shrugged. "I still can't see anything like a weapon." Then something struck him as odd about the Knight Saber. "Hang on a minute. Zoom in on his chest." 

Johnson manipulated the controls till the Knight Saber's chest filled the screen. "Correct me if I'm wrong," Peter said. "but aren't those breasts?" 

"Looks like it." said John. "Ladies?" he said looking at Mary and Anne. Mary blushed, but Anne shot John a dirty look and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Peter. 

"See if the computer can build a 3D model of the Knight Saber." 

Johnson played with the controls, and a minute later the video was replaced by a rotating profile of the Green Knight Saber. "That ain't a guy." Peter said. "The build's too slight, the shoulders and waist are too narrow and the hips too wide for that to be a man." 

"Pull up the other two." Upham ordered. Johnson manipulated the controls again, and similar profiles of the other two were displayed next to the first one. 

"They're all women!" Matt said. 

"You reckon?" John said sarcastically. 

Peter stood there, with his hands on his hips and surprised etched on his face. "Well, I don't think any of us were expecting this." he said. 

"Can we be sure they are actually women?" asked Upham. 

"Oh, they're definitely women." John said. "Those suits are too snug around the crotch for any man's liking." 

"Eww, thanks for bringing that up, John!" Anne said crossly. 

"Ah, c'mon, you know you love it." John smirked. 

"People, please!" Upham interrupted. "I'm not going to have any sexual harassment suits here." 

"Yeah, right. Sorry." John said. 

"Now, if we can get on with the rest of the briefing please." 

*** 

"It performed better than I expected." Priss said as Nigel Kirkland connected the diagnostic equipment to the motoslave. Nigel just grunted in response. 

"Did you hear about last night?" The singer asked, her words somewhat drowned by the noise outside the K's workshop. 

"That you were followed?" Nigel asked, not taking his eyes away from his work. 

"Mm-hmm." Priss nodded. "Sylia wants to know if you have any thoughts on the matter." 

"I'm a mechanic, not a spy." Nigel said. 

"Didn't think so." Priss turned and climbed on her bike. 

"However," Nigel said. Priss turned to look at him. "if they broke off when they realized you'd spotted them, I'd say they were professionals." 

Priss put her helmet on and started her bike. "That's what I thought." she said and tore out of the shop and onto the street, narrowly missing another car which honked its horn angrily. 

*** 

"I really think this is a waste of time, man." Matt complained to Peter as he guided the car through the traffic on the street. 

"Got any better ideas to find a lead?" Peter asked rhetorically. They had been cruising the streets around where they lost the Knight Sabers the night before, hoping to find some clue as to where they went. 

They turned onto a street in a light industrial area. Suddenly a young woman on a red motorbike swerved in front of them. Matt slammed on the brakes and beeped the horn, but the woman ignored them. "Stupid girl!" he cried. 

Peter turned to look at where she had come from, and felt his heart skip a beat. "Hey, isn't that the bike we saw last night?" he asked, pointing to a bike that was being worked on by a tall mechanic with long hair. 

Matt glanced at it. "Looks like it." 

"Go around the block., we'll get some pictures of it." Peter said, taking out a camera and prepping it. 

Matt drove around the block and Peter snapped over a dozen pictures as they passed by a second time. "Let's head back to the Embassy and get these developed." Peter instructed. 

*** 

Peter sat in the Embassy's security centre, drinking a coffee, as he examined the two pictures on the table in front of him. One was a capture from the film from last night, the other had only just been developed. Both bikes were identical enough for them to be the same one, but Peter studied them still, looking for any minor differences that would set them apart. While not a biker himself, he knew enough about motorbikes to know this one was unique and not a commercially sold product. He wanted them to be the same bike, but he had to be sure about it before he made any decisions. 

After an hour of searching both with his eyes and with a computer, they still came up a match. "Any luck?" Johnson said as he entered the centre. 

Peter turned to him and pointed to the two pictures. "Tell me they're not the same bike." 

Johnson bent over and examined both pictures carefully. After a minute or two, he looked at Peter. "Sorry, they're the same one." 

Peter jumped to his feet and punched the air. "Yes! We just got out next lead." 

Johnson's eyebrows jumped. "So soon?" 

"Yep. Much as I'd like to claim credit for it, it was just pure dumb luck." 

"That's always the way with the big breaks." 

"If this really is the bike that was used last night, then that means this guy here either works for them, or this is their maintenance depot." 

"Sure he's not just a mechanic doing a tune-up on a customers bike?" 

"Not a chance. This bikes totally unique, there's not another one like it, and to entrust that to some mechanic who's not on your payroll is a serious breach of security." 

"Fair enough." Johnson nodded. "So what are you going to do?" he said. 

"First we find out everything about this guy, then we start a surveillance on him and his shop." Peter said excitedly as he strode out of the security centre, eager to chase this lead. 

*** 

Nene chowed down on another handful of munchies as she went through the program code one final time. It had been a long day at the ADP Tower and she was now glad to be home. The fallout from last nights boomer incident had reached all the way into the dispatch centre and everyone had been ducking for cover. Nene couldn't remember another time she had been so relieved as she had at the end of her shift when she had successfully managed to avoid the Chiefs fury. 

The incoming message icon on her screen began to flash, drawing her attention to it. Nene tapped a button and Sylia's face appeared on the screen. "Oh hi Sylia!" Nene said cheerfully. 

"Nene, I need you to do something for me." 

"Huh? What?" the young blonde asked. 

"I need you to hack into the Ministry of Intelligence computers and get a list of all spies and operatives working in Tokyo." 

Nena gagged. "The Ministry of Intelligence?! Sylia that's suicide! Their security's even better than Genom's, plus they have National Security laws to back them up as well!" 

"I'm sure you'll find a way around it. I have complete confidence in you." Sylia said with a smile before shutting down the connection. 

Nene sighed. This was going to be an even longer night. 

*** 

Peter entered the security centre and walked straight to the coffee machine. After pouring his eighteenth cup for that day, he glanced at the clock on the wall. Eleven forty five. Peter cringed at the thought of another sleepless night. He cast a look at the amount of coffee left in the pot and calculated that, at the rate he was drinking it, he'd need another four pots to see him till the morning. He didn't even want to think what all that caffeine was doing to his system. 

He walked over to where Charles was seated at the workstation his team had commandeered from Johnson's men. "Anything yet?" he asked. 

"All I can get are public access documents on the business. I'm not a hacker. Sorry." Charles apologised. 

"Don't be. I've got the hackers back at JIO searching for the good stuff. What have you gotten?" Peter pulled up a chair and sat. 

"I've got copies of their Deed of Incorporation, Deed to the land, registry of their business name and other legal documents." 

"No financial records?" 

"Nope. They're all confidential." 

"Well that's just more work for the guys back home then." Peter said. "Show me what you've got." Charles called the up the necessary documents on screen and they spent several minutes going through them. 

Just as they were finishing the registry of the business, a beeping caught their attention. A flashing icon on the screen announced an incoming encoded file transfer. 

"This looks like it. Go get the others." Peter told Charles. 

"Sure." The surveillance officer said, then left to fetch the rest of the team. 

Peter took Charles' seat at the terminal, entered his authorization code and waited for the file to download. 

Within a minute several megabytes of information on the K's motorbike garage had arrived and Peter was looking over it. Charles returned, bringing with him Matt, Anne and Johnson. Peter looked up from the console. 

"Looks like we struck pay dirt. We've got bank statements, invoices, receipts and enough other financial records to put an accountant in heaven. Plus we've got personnel records on the owner-operator and his only-" Peter stopped and double checked what he was reading. 

"What?" Matt asked. 

"Those bloody lazy computer geeks!" Peter fumed. "They didn't send anything on that kid that works there!" 

"Did they know you wanted that stuff?" Matt asked. 

"Hell yeah! I specifically asked for everything on everyone that worked there, which means Kirkland and the kid." Peter blustered. He picked up the phone and tapped a button on the computer. Hard copies of the documents began printing out. "You guys get started on those. I'll call Canberra and sort this out." He said crossly. 

The Surveillance Officers looked at each other either rolled their eyes or groaned, before getting stuck into the pile of documents. 

After ten or so minutes, Peter put down the phone and came over to them with a puzzled look on his face. "So what's up? They gonna get this stuff now?" Matt asked, not looking up from the bank statements he was reading. 

"According to those hackers, there is nothing on him. They looked high and low and couldn't find any record of Kirkland ever having an assistant." 

"Is he required to keep written records of his employees?" Matt asked. "Maybe he just never bothered." 

"He is. I checked that. The fact that there's no records indicates there's something funny happening. Could be he's just trying to avoid payroll tax." Peter said as he dropped himself into a spare seat. 

"Or it could mean this kids involved with the Knight Sabers." Johnson said. 

"I doubt it. He's too young to be caught up in this sort of thing." 

"Well, think about it." Anne said. "He's, what, sixteen? Yet he's not in school, and in Japan, that's really odd. He has to be doing something with his time." 

"Maybe he's an apprentice?" Matt suggested. 

Peter shook his head. "To be recognized as a qualified mechanic afterwards, he'd have to go through the whole apprenticeship scheme, which means government and employment records." 

"So what do we do?" asked Matt. 

"Keep up our surveillance and follow Kirkland and the kid when they go anywhere." Peter shrugged. 

"I think this might be important." Charles said suddenly, holding up a piece of paper. Peter took it and read the part Charles indicated. Peter's eyes went wide and he muttered a soft "We'll I'll be damned!" 

"What?" Matt asked. 

"Turns out this Kirkland was part of the team that first developed the boomer technology." 

"Seriously?" Anne asked. 

"Right there in black and white." Peter passed her the paper. "What the hell's someone like that doing working on motorbikes? You'd think he'd be working for Genom or have been head hunted by some other corporation." 

"Yet another piece to the puzzle." Johnson said. 

"Yeah." Peter nodded in agreement. "And this one's a real brain teaser." 

*** 

"Central, Unit two, over." Anne's voice was heard in the Embassy Security Centre. Johnson came over to where Peter was seated so he could hear better. 

"Central, go ahead." Peter replied. He glanced at the clock and noted the time. 19:15, almost time for dinner. 

"Junior is on the move, over." Anne said, using the code name for Kirklands assistant, whose name they had learned from several days of surveillance was Mackey. 

"Where's he heading?" 

"At the moment, east. Over." Anne reported. 

"What's east of there?" Peter asked Johnson as he pulled up a map of the area on the computer, which they both examined. 

"The only thing of note is this upmarket residential and shopping complex a few blocks away." Johnson pointed out. "Everything else is just a mixture of private residential and commercial." 

Peter considered for a moment, then radioed Anne and Charlie. "Unit two, Central. Stay with Junior. Report back in five." 

"Unit Two, copy that. We're rolling. Unit Two out." Anne confirmed. 

For several minutes they tracked Unit Two as it wound through the streets, following Mackey. Ten minutes later, they found themselves outside the residential and shopping complex. Anne came on the radio. "Junior has headed into the complex. We'll have to proceed on foot to stay with him." she reported. 

"Copy that. Proceed on foot, but maintain discretion." Peter ordered. 

They waited tensely for a minute until Anne reported in again. "Central, Unit Two. Junior entered a shop in the complex. We're checking it out now. Stand by." 

Peter and Johnson shared a look. "What sort of shop is open at this time of night?" Peter wondered aloud. 

"Central, Unit Two. Shop is a women's fashion boutique, by the name Silky Doll. From the looks of it, it's closed up for the day. Over" 

Peter was surprised by that. "Say again, Unit Two." 

"I say again. Subject just entered a women's fashion boutique. The name of the shop is the Silky Doll, and it is currently closed for business. Over" 

"Yeah, copy that Unit Two. Stay there until Junior leaves." Peter closed the radio link. "What the hell is he doing in that sort of shop after hours?" He wondered aloud again. 

"I'll go find out what I can on this shop." Johnson offered. 

"Right, thanks. Let me know when you find something." Peter said as Johnson left his side, then turned to monitor the remote sensors they had set up to watch the front of K's Garage. After about ten minutes, Johnson reported back. 

"I think you'll want to see this." he said and called up a file on Peter's computer. "The Silky Doll. Fashion Boutique store on the upper shopping concourse of the building. Owned and operated by one Sylia Stingray." 

"Stingray? Why does that name ring a bell?" Peter asked. Johnson called up another file featuring personal details and a picture of an attractive young woman in her mid twenties. "Christ! Her father invented boomers?" Peter said incredulously as he read it. He leaned back in his seat and thought for a moment. "And Kirkland worked on his team. This is too much of a coincidence. Anything else on her?" 

"A bit actually." Johnson called up another file. "Turns out she not only owns that shop, but the entire building. She lives on the top few floors and rents most the remaining space out to other businesses." 

"That plus her fathers money means she's loaded." Peter commented. Then he thought for a moment. "So what's the connection between Junior and her?" he wondered out loud. 

"Central, Unit Two. Junior is on the move, over." The radio crackled to life with Anne's voice. 

"Central, copy that. Where to?" 

"Looks like he's heading back to Screwdriver." Anne said, using their code name for K's Garage. 

"Copy that. Stay with him." 

"Copy that. Unit Two out." Anne said and clicked off. Peter leaned back in his chair and sighed. Yet another late night. 

"Another lead?" Johnson asked. 

"And a big one." Peter confirmed. 

*** 

It was midday and Nigel and Mackey were just about to break for lunch when another customer entered the garage, a westerner pushing a hire bike. As Nigel stood to see what he wanted, the customer pulled a guidebook from his pocket and read from it in stilted Japanese. "Ah, bike....broke. Fix it?" 

"Yeah, we can do that." Nigel replied in english, much to the surprise of the westerner. 

"Oh, that's great. I don't think it's anything serious, it's just not idling." 

"Here, let me look at that." Nigel said and took the bike from the man who stepped back to look about the shop while he worked. Nigel started the engine and revved it for a few seconds before letting it drop back to idle, but the bike sputtered and stalled. Pulling off part of the cover shroud over the engine, he poked around till he found the fuel injection. 

"Here's the problem." he said. "Someone's set the fuel mixture incorrectly. Only take a minute." 

"Oh, great, great." the man said and continued to look about. 

"Mackey, get me a Phillips head." Nigel put his hand out. A moment later Mackey placed the correct screwdriver in his palm. "Now keep the engine revving while I adjust the mixture." 

Mackey started the bike again and did as he was instructed while Nigel tinkered about. "Okay, that should do it." he said after a moment. Mackey let go of the bike and the revs dropped, though this time it didn't stall. A few more minor adjustments had it purring away. 

Nigel stood up. "That's it." he said. 

"Great." the customer said. "What do I owe you?" 

Nigel shook his head. "Don't bother, it only took me a minute." 

"Oh really? Thanks, that's very nice of you." he mounted the bike. "I'll put a good word in for you when I return the bike. Maybe the hire company will send some business your way." 

"Maybe." 

"Thanks again." he said as he waved and drove out of the garage, leaving Nigel and Mackey to get back to work. 

The man turned left onto the street, then worked his way through a maze of streets till he turned another corner and stopped next to a car parked on the side of the road. He reached into his jacket and pulled something out which he passed through the open drivers window. 

"Get back to the Embassy and start working the video." Peter instructed Anne. "I'll return the bike to the hire company. Have Matt pick me up in half an hour." 

"Right." she said. Peter drove off. Anne turned the car around and drove away in the opposite direction. 

*** 

Matt glanced at his watch, then went back to watching the front of K's Garage. Seven thirty five. He and Peter had another two hours to go until they were replaced by Charles and Mary. There was very little activity at this time of night, and Peter had gone to get them dinner. 

The car door opened and Peter got in, carrying a large, greasy fast food bag. "You'd think you'd be able to find some decent Chinese around here." Peter griped as he ripped open the bag and passed Matt a burger, fries and coke. 

"Why don't you just get some Japanese food?" Matt asked as he hooked into his burger. "There's cafe's all over the place." 

Peter shrugged and looked at his watch as he took a bit of his burger, then checked a small electronic notepad. "According to our schedule, they should just be finishing cleaning up for the day. Mackey will then ride his bike to Sylia's for dinner and Nigel will take that opportunity to go do some shopping, which will take him between half an hour to an hour." 

"Yep." Matt said as he munched through his dinner. It had taken them a week of surveillance to be this sure about Nigel and Mackey's routines, but they still wouldn't place bets on them. 

A moment later a figure emerged from the shop wheeling a push bike. "There's Mackey." said Matt. Nigel emerged moments later, locked the garage doors behind him, then walked up the street in the opposite direction to Mackey. Ordinarily they would have followed him, but not tonight. 

Peter waited till they were out of sight, then tossed the rest of his burger out the window and grabbed some clothes from the back. Contorting as best he could in the confined space, Peter removed his jacket and shirt and jeans, revealing black fatigues. His shoes he swapped for a pair of combat boots and he topped it all off with a black balaclava which completely concealed his face. Grabbing a combat vest off the back seat, he pulled it on as he jumped out the door.. "Won't be a minute." he said and quickly scanned the street for anybody that might see him. There were none. 

Moving quickly, he dashed across the street, vaulted over the fence outside the garage and hugged the front wall of the building. Sidestepping along the wall to the front door, he examined the lock. It appeared to be a simple keypad, but Peter pulled a scanner from his vest and ran it over it anyway. Sure enough, behind the keypad he detected a bioelectric sensor that would only open when it sensed the correct persons bioelectric field. While this one didn't appear to be a standard commercial unit, the principle behind the design was the same. He scanned the area around the lock and located the wires leading from it to the motor which opened the doors. He pulled another device from his vest and attached it to the wall over the wires. It took a moment to scan all the electronics within its range, then used its own electromagnetic field to reproduce the signal to be transmitted to the doors motor. With a slight creak, the garage doors began to open. When it got wide enough for Peter to duck under, he stopped them and removed the device. 

Once inside Peter made his way to his chosen spot, a small power point in the far wall. He had spent hours going over the plans for the building and the secret video until he had memorized every little detail. Quickly and easily opening it, he attached a small electronic device behind the plastic and then replaced the cover. Heading into the small office, he placed another device inside a light fixture, and another inside a potted plant, taking special care to aim it directly at the CPU of the computer. 

Heading outside, he closed the garage doors then took a moment to ensure everything was exactly where it was supposed to be, then ran out of the yard, vaulting over the fence again. The street was still deserted and Peter dashed to the car and jumped in. He checked his watch. The entire operation had only taken five minutes. He grinned in spite of himself. Matt started the car and pulled away from the curb. "All done?" he asked. 

Peter nodded, tossing his combat vest onto the back seat and pulling his normal jacket back on. Matt handed control of the car over to the autodriver, then pulled a portable console from the back seat and switched it on. Immediately the screen lit up with two images from inside the garage, transmitted by the bugs Peter had just installed. A third window opened, detailing all the data that Nigel's computer was currently processing. "It's all working." he reported. 

"I should bloody hope so." Peter said. 

"When'll the phone be tapped?" 

"Later tonight. Hackers back home have to wait until the exchange gets quiet for some damn reason." 

"Okay. When do you think we'll find something?" 

"Soon hopefully. After those first couple of breaks, Canberra's now getting a little disappointed that nothing's happened for the past week." 

"Man, you shouldn't get their hopes like that." 

Peter grinned, then the radio crackled to life. "Watchtower, this is Central." Johnson said. Peter picked up the handpiece. "Go ahead." 

"We've just received word that there's a boomer out of control in Sodom." Peter and Matt looked at each other blankly. 

"Where?" Peter asked in confusion. 

"Sorry, I mean Sodo ward. It's the red-light district in Tokyo, so it's been nicknamed Sodom." 

"Shit! That means there'll be a lot of people around there." He nodded to Matt who retook control of the car and turned it around. "Okay we're on our way. Where in Sodom?" 

"Tearing apart some nightclubs in the centre of the district. I'm sending you the address. The AD Police are on their way." 

Peter watched as the data Johnson sent appeared on their car computer. "Copy that, we got it. Get everybody else rolling. Let's just hope they show." Peter clicked off. He didn't need to clarify who 'they' were. 

*** 

The drive to Sodom took ten minutes and they parked a few blocks away from the action. Peter went forward to see what was happening whilst Matt readied their equipment. The scene that greeted him when he arrived was what he had expected. A large crowd had gathered, blocking an intersection and surrounding a moderately sized building on the corner in the process of being destroyed from the inside out. AD Police troopers were keeping them at bay with the help of a sprinkling of Regular Police who had been called in to assist with crowd control. Beyond the crowd, Peter saw more ADP Troopers taking up tactical positions around the building. Debris littered the streets and footpath, and several troopers were using it as cover. Several patrol cars were parked nearby and a Tactical Response Van was just arriving. Amongst all the uniforms he saw two men in plain clothes who appeared to be directing the operation; a tall one with a leather jacket and hard look to him, and a shorter one in a white suit and flamboyant shirt. It didn't appear like the Knight Sabers had arrived yet, so Peter jogged back to the car and collected Matt. 

They circled around the scene for a short distance, ending up in a dark alley. There they climbed a fire escape to the roof of a building with a clear line of sight to the building the boomer was in, and hunkered down amidst the air conditioning to wait. Peter kept his head above the machinery so he could scan the sky. According to their reports, the Knight Sabers always arrived from above, so Peter concluded they either used their thrusters to hop from building to building like some mechanized Superman, or they were dropped from an aircraft. 

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Peter spotted three shapes moving against the blackness. He grabbed his electrobinoculars and trained it on them. Sure enough he saw the now all too familiar shapes of the Knight Sabers. 

Matt already had the video camera ready and started filming. They watched as the Knight Sabers touched down on a nearby building and surveyed the scene. "What are they doing?" Matt whispered. 

"Looks like they're working out a plan." Peter whispered back as they saw the Knight Sabers gesture and move like they were locked in conversation. "This is interesting." he said. "Seems like they operate on consensus rather than rely on a proper chain of command." 

Finally they appeared to agree on a course of action. Two of them, the dark blue and the green ones, lit their thrusters and rocketed over to the roof of the wrecked building. Judging from the shouts and frantic activity below, Peter judged they had been spotted. The red one remained though and appeared to be monitoring the events. 

"What's she still doing there?" Matt asked. 

"I'm guessing she's their support element." Peter said. "She hangs back and monitors the battle and the surrounding area and all communications, and probably also provides them with fire support." 

"Monitors the area? Think she can spot us?" 

"I don't know. She doesn't seem to have seen us yet. Just keep your voice down, don't move and don't operate any unnecessary electronics. The air conditioning plants should mask the camera's EM field." 

"We hope." Matt said. 

Suddenly the radio in Peter's pocket crackled to life. "Watchtower, Centra-" Johnson's voice was cut off mid sentence as Peter hurriedly thumbed the off button. But he wasn't fast enough. The Red Knight Saber turned her head in their direction and both men held their breath. 

Peter always hated these times, the apprehension as they waited to see if he had been spotted always irked him. He wanted most to move and take some action, but anything he did would most definitely give away their position. Most times he'd been lucky enough to avoid detection, but twice his luck had run out, and neither of those times had been much fun. He gritted his teeth and waited to find out if this would be number three. Silently, grasped his gun and flipped the safety off, though he doubted regular bullets would have much of an effect on that armour. 

The Red Knight Saber stared at them for a hellishly long time, and Peter was almost sure she'd spotted them and was alerting the others when she turned her attention back to the fight across the street. Both men slowly let their breath out, but Peter kept his hand on his gun. 

Another couple of minutes and several explosions later, and the other two Knight Sabers appeared on the roof of the building across the street and took off into the night sky. The Red Knight Saber lit her thrusters and joined them. Peter watched them disappear into the night and thought he saw the red one cast a last look back at them. 

Once they were gone, both men slumped back against the machinery breathed heavily. "That was too god damned close, man." Matt said. 

Peter said nothing for a moment, then slammed his fist into the metal wall behind them. "Christ, I'm an idiot!" he growled. 

"Don't beat yourself up over it, man. Everybody makes mistakes. It's part of life." Matt said. 

Peter looked at him with a sorrowful expression. "Not if you want to survive in our business, mate. More often than not, one mistake gets somebody killed, no matter how minor." 

"Worry about it later, man. Let's get back to Embassy." Matt said as he stood. Peter took a deep, calming breath, then stood and followed him. 

*** 

"They're back." Nene said as she and the other Knight Sabers flew back to base. 

"You mean the spies? How do you know?" asked Linna. 

"Whilst you and Priss were fighting the boomer, I picked up part of a radio transmission to someone on the roof of a nearby building." 

"You're sure it wasn't just ADP or a civilian?" Priss asked. 

"No, it wasn't on any police or civilian bands. The transmission was cut off as if somebody realized they'd left their radio on or something." 

"Nene, did you see anybody?" Sylia cut in. 

"No. They were hiding amongst some air conditioning plants and there was too much interference for my suits sensors." 

"That settles it then. There's definitely someone out there trying to catch us in action." Sylia declared. 

"So what do we do?" asked Priss. "Lay low for a while?" There was silence on the airwaves for a while. The three Knight Sabers touch down on a building and took off again. "Sylia?" Priss asked. 

"I don't think we can." Sylia said in a quiet voice "Not whilst there's boomers going rogue and killing people." 

"So what'll we do?" Nene asked. 

"I'm not sure. Get back to base and we'll discus it. I'll call Nigel and Mackey over as well." 

*** 

Peter was silent the whole drive back to the Embassy. Matt parked in the basement garage. After storing their gear in one of the Embassy's secure lockers, they took the elevator to the ninth floor where the security centre was located. They entered and Johnson looked up at them, concern on his face. 

"Are you guys okay? We've been trying to contact you." 

Peter nodded. "We had to turn the radio off, it almost gave us away." 

"I understand. So what happened? We're monitoring the ADP's comms and they sound pretty pissed off that the Knight Sabers beat 'em to it again." 

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Peter said as Matt hooked the camera up to the computers and played the tape. They sat and watched as events unfold for the second time. "That's when you tried calling and we had to turn the radio off." Peter said as the Red Knight Saber turned to look at the camera. 

After the tape finished, Johnson said "You guys came close to getting caught." 

"Yeah. I think in future we maintain radio silence." Peter said. 

"That might be prudent." Johnson said. 

"Who's on the Garage?" Matt asked, changing the subject. 

"Ah, yes. That's what we've been trying to get in touch with you about." Johnson said. "About twenty minutes ago both subjects left the garage after receiving a phone call." 

"Is our tap in place?" Peter asked as he checked his watch. 

Johnson shook his head. "Not yet. It wasn't over the listed lines anyway. It was on a mobile we didn't know Kirkland had." 

"An unlisted phone? That's interesting. Where'd they go?" 

"Oddly enough, to Stingrays shop." 

"To her shop? But it's nearly nine o'clock. What sort of boutique is open at this time?" 

"Not law abiding ones, I can tell you that." Johnson said. 

"Are they still there?" Matt asked. 

Johnson nodded. "John and Anne are watching the front of the place." 

Peter stood and started to pace. "Okay. The Knight Sabers were just on a mission where they may have spotted us. Now both our contacts have entered a shop owned by the Dr Stingrays daughter who has enough money to be financing the Knight Sabers." 

"That's more than just a coincidence." Johnson said. 

Peter agreed. "This should be enough to convince Canberra to send us the resources to start surveillance on Sylia Stingray." 

"The more the merrier, man." Matt grinned. 

"C'mon." Peter said, starting for the door. "We'd better get over to Stingray's and find out what's going on." 

Matt sighed, and glanced at Johnson. "Man, doesn't that guy ever sleep." he griped before following his boss. Johnson smirked and shook his head, then went back to his job of overseeing Embassy security. 

*** 

Sylia looked around the assembled crowd before speaking. The entire Knight Sabers crew was present. Priss, Linna and Nene were still in their hardsuits, but had removed their helmets, and Nigel and Mackey had only just arrived, looking worried. 

"We have a major problem." She began. "It would appear that someone has taken an interest in us. Who and for what reason we don't know. You all know that last week someone tried to follow us home after that boomer went rogue on the highway. And just now Nene intercepted part of a radio transmission from someone on the roof a building overlooking our latest mission. You want to tell us about it, Nene?" 

"I'll do better than that." Nene said as she walked over to a computer terminal and plugged her suit in. "I managed to save my suits auto-recording of it before it cleared the buffer. I'll play it to you, but I gotta warn you, it's in english. But don't worry, I can translate it for anyone if they don't speak it, I'm pretty fluent." Nene said and pulled a cutie pie face. 

Priss rolled her eyes. "Just play the damn thing." she said in accented english. Nene gaped in surprise momentarily, before turning to the terminal and pressing a button. Sylia smirked slightly. 

"_Watchtower, centra-_" they heard a voice say in english before it was cut off and replaced by static. 

"Sounds like call signs." Priss stated. 

"Yeah. I believe whoever it was, was trying to say 'central' or 'centrally' before he got cut off." Nene said. 

"Um, I didn't understand it." Linna admitted. "I don't speak english." 

"They said 'Watchtower, centra'" Nigel translated for her. 

"Oh, thanks. Well, I suppose 'Central' would make sense if it was somebody using call signs." Linna said. 

"Yeah. 'Central's' would be their headquarters and 'Watchtower's' whoever was watching you." Mackey agreed. 

"Thanks for stating the obvious, kid." Priss said with a coy smirk. Mackey blushed, feeling rather foolish. 

"If they're using call signs," Nene said, "that means they've got some sort of training." 

"So what does this tell us?" Nigel asked. 

"Well, everything we've seen so far indicates a high degree of professionalism." said Sylia. "Their unwillingness to give chase when I tried to loose them last week, and their choice of hiding spot tonight. If it hadn't been for the radio transmission, Nene would never have spotted them." 

"Yeah, that's probably true." Nene admitted. 

"I'd say they're from some large organisation or agency and not, dare I say, a group like us. Nene, have you managed to hack the Ministry of Intelligence yet?" 

The young blonde shook her head. "No, not yet. I have to be careful. They employ hackers like me to hunt down people who try to break into their systems. I've managed to gain access to some low level secured areas, but not the information you want. I'm still working on that." 

"You're hacking the Ministry of Intelligence's computers?" Linna asked in surprise. "Is that safe?" 

"Of course not, silly. That's why I'm being careful." Nene giggled. 

"Keep trying Nene. And I want you to expand your search to include known foreign agents." 

"So you're convinced it's a foreign agency and not the Government?" Priss asked. 

"I just want to cover all bases." Sylia said. "The fact they were speaking english and with an accent indicates they're foreigners, but I still want to check Japanese intelligence, just in case." 

"What sort of accent is it?" Linna asked. 

"It's not American." Priss said "They're the ones I'd expect to be taking an interest in us, but I've had enough experience to know they're not." 

"It sounds more British or Australian." Sylia said. "I'll admit I've never been very good with accents." she looked around questioningly. "Any ideas?" Head shakes and murmured 'no's' all round. "Well, in that case then, we now have to decide what we're going to do." 

"What we should do is lay low for a while." Priss said. "The only way they're going to find us is if they follow us back to the Pit after a mission. All we have to do is not go out, and they'll soon loose interest." 

"And what if another boomer goes rogue." Sylia asked. 

"So long as it's nothing serious or life threatening, the ADP can handle it." 

"What?" a surprised Nene almost shouted. "Priss, you've always hated the AD Police! Now you're saying they're okay?" 

"I'm not saying they're okay, I'm saying as long as there's nobody in danger, they can take the risks." 

"And what if there are people in danger?" Linna asked. 

"Then we limit our exposure, and take some precautions." 

"Like?" Sylia asked. 

"We take different, circular routes to arrive and leave. We maintain radio silence. And we're there as long as it takes to get the whoever out of danger, then we get lost." 

"Any other ideas?" Sylia asked. 

"I agree with most of what Priss said." Linna spoke up. "Except I think we should aim at taking the boomers out in the most discreet way as possible. We've seen how the AD Police try to deal with rogue boomers. They do more damage than the boomers themselves. If we let them take out the boomers, they'll destroy half of Tokyo." 

"So?" Priss said. "Better to let them take the blame than us get caught by some spies." 

"Do we even know why they're investigating us?" Mackey asked. 

"More than likely Genom's behind it." Nene said with venom in her voice. 

"No, it's not Genom. They wouldn't go to a foreign government and risk suck exposure." Sylia said. 

"Are you sure it's a foreign spy agency and not some gaijin mercenaries?" Priss asked. 

"It's not Genom. They have their own operatives. These people are a totally new player in this game. One that we have to find out as much about as possible." 

"Well, I think I can identify the accent." Nene said. "There's some voice recognition software on the ADP's mainframe that can do it." 

"Do it. And while you're at it, find out how many people use that make of helicopter they used last time. If it's limited to a relatively few customers, we could probably guess at who these people might be. We'll meet back here in forty eight hours. There's to be no communication between anyone before then unless it's urgent, and then it goes through me. I want everybody to limit contact with each other as much as possible until this blows over. All we know so far is that somebody is trying to follow us back to base after a mission, there's no telling if they've already got us under surveillance. 

"Does anyone have anything else to add?" There were slight head shakes and silence all round. "Then we'll break up and meet back here in two days." 

*** 

"What? Why?" Peter asked Dewhurst over the videophone in Johnson's private office off the Security Centre. The security chief had graciously lent him the room whilst he took the call from Canberra. 

"Neither ASIO nor ASIS has the manpower to spare at this moment." Dewhurst said in a somewhat apologetic way. 

"But I thought this operation had top priority?" Peter argued. 

"So did I, but when I presented your request, it was flatly turned down." 

"Why?" Peter pressed. 

"That's the only explanation I was given." Dewhurst said. 

"That's complete bullshit!" Peter cried, jumping to his feet. "Since when in the last ten years has either ASIO or ASIS been short of manpower?" 

"Peter, you of all people should know circumstances change." 

There was some anger beginning to seep into Dewhursts voice, but Peter didn't care. "Not in the space of two weeks, they don't. At least not like this. If there was some kind of major operation under way, I would have heard about it through the grapevine." He shouted at the videophone. 

"God damn it Peter, it's not my fault! This came from way above me!" Dewhurst shouted back. 

"Well just how the hell do they expect me to do my job without enough people?" Peter shot. 

"Well you'll just have to make do, cause there's no way you're getting any help now!" Dewhurst said with a hard edge and then shut down the link. Peter stared at the now blank screen, fuming. How could they turn him down like that? Weren't there thousands of jobs and billions of dollars riding on this? How was he expected to make an accurate assessment without the proper resources? 

Blind anger welled up inside Peter and he smashed his fist into the wall in frustration, accompanied by an enraged snarl. Pain immediately exploded through his hand and he let out an involuntary yelp. Cradling his hand, he flexed his fingers, ensuring nothing was broken. Fortunately nothing was, but it would be tender for a few days. 

His primitive urge to lash out at something satisfied, Peter stalked back into the Security Centre, seething with a tightly contained cold fury. 

"I take it from all the shouting that it didn't go well?" Johnson said somewhat warily. 

"You reckon?" Peter shot back as he headed for the coffee pot. 

Johnson watched in silence as Peter poured a cup and drained it, then poured another cup. "So what are you going to do now?" 

"Now, we've got a few decisions to make." Peter said, staring into his coffee cup as he swirled the contents absently. 

"Such as?" Johnson prompted. 

"Such as do we move surveillance from Kirkland and Mackey, our only two confirmed leads at the moment, to Sylia who may not be involved at all and possibly miss another break. I just wish Canberra would have given us enough people to watch both at the same time." he lamented. 

"Why wouldn't they?" 

"Some BS about them not having the manpower to spare." 

"How do you know they don't?" Johnson asked. 

"Cause ASIO and ASIS have agents coming out their combined arses. Their current combined strength stands at almost five thousand, of which over half are field agents. Even if the shit did hit the fan over something, they'd still have enough agents spare to send a few over here." 

"Well, then explain why they won't let you have any." Johnson said, trying to be reasonable. 

Peter looked up from his coffee. "Best I can figure is that somebody upstairs has their panties in a knot over something to do with us. I just can't think of why. I mean, we're on the verge of tracking down the Knight Sabers and far sooner than I would have thought possible. What did we do wrong?" 

Johnson shook his head apologetically. "You'd know better than I would, mate. I'm just head of security at an Embassy, you're the spy here." 

Peter nodded in mute agreement. "I s'pose. I'll make a few calls, see what I can shake loose from people back home." he checked his watch. "But that can wait till morning, it's not important enough to wake people up at this hour." 

"Till then?" Johnson asked. 

Peter yawned and stretched the knots out of his arms. "Well, with Kirkland and Mackey bedded down for the night, I might do the same. Mind if I crash on the couch in your office?" he said, looking longingly through the open door at the comfortable looking sofa jammed up against the far wall. 

"Actually I do mind. I was going to sleep there." Johnson said with a grin. "There's some really comfortable couches downstairs in the lounge, will they do?" 

Peter yawned again and he struggled to keep his eyes open as almost two weeks of very little intermittent sleep caught up with him. "Mate, right now I'd settle for a hard concrete floor." 

"Well, why don't take yourself downstairs and I'll send somebody in a minute with some blankets and pillows." 

Peter's reply was stifled by another yawn, but he nodded and headed towards the lift. It would be good to get a couple of hours of sleep. 

*** 

Peter arrived late to the morning briefing. "Sorry." he said, taking his usual seat. "I overslept. I guess this last week or so just caught up with me." 

"Yes, well, I'm glad you were able to join us." Upham said without any conviction. "I understand you had a rather unpleasant call last night." 

"Yeah. Canberra turned down my request for extra manpower." Peter said as he organised the papers in front of him. 

Upham picked up a piece of paper from his pile and read it while speaking. "You want to place this Sylia Stingray under surveillance. You suspect her of financing the Knight Sabers." Upham put the paper down. "Having met Sylia Stingray, I find it hard to believe that the daughter of the man who invented boomers could be involved with a group that seeks to destroy them." 

"You've met her?" Peter managed to keep his jaw from dropping open. "Where and when?" 

Upham sat back in his seat and thought for a moment. "About a year ago, at a black tie party at the Genom building. The unveiling of the those new female models I believe it was." 

"And? What was she like?" 

"Smart, but that's to be expected from the daughter of Doctor Stingray. She also struck me as thoughtful, perhaps even brooding. Although I didn't see it that night, she is famed for quite a temper." 

"And why don't you believe she can be involved with the Knight Sabers?" 

Upham looked Peter directly in the eye. 

"Because she loves her father. She spoke about him at great length, always in a positive light. I don't believe she could hate something someone so dear to her created." 

Peter thought on that for a few moments. While it was inconceivable that Sylia Stingray could be attempting to undo her fathers work, it was not impossible. Peter had seen too many strange and even insane situations in his time to discard anything as impossible. No, none of this new information would change his view of her as a potential suspect, but it would go towards building up a character profile of her. Then a thought struck him. He phrased his next question carefully. "Does Canberra know of this?" 

Upham nodded. "I prepared a report on her when they asked me for information in preparation for this operation." 

John spoke up. "Is that why they turned down our request?" Peter cast a black look at John, who didn't seem to catch it. 

"No. It's because they can't spare the manpower." John was about to speak, when he finally noticed the look Peter was giving him and held back. 

Peter could tell Upham had no clue what was going on, and that he was just regurgitating whatever Canberra told him. This was going to throw a major monkey wrench into his investigation. Upham wouldn't let him investigate Sylia Stingray, yet he had to if he wanted to move his investigation forward. It was time to employ some new tactics. 

"So what do you plan to do now?" Upham asked. 

"Well, since we don't have the extra manpower, our only option is to continue our surveillance on K's garage and Nigel Kirkland." 

Upham nodded his agreement, then moved on to other routine business before ending the meeting. Everyone gathered their papers and headed for the door. Upham was first out and down the corridor, headed back to his office, when Peter emerged. As he did, Matt caught his arm and spun him around. 

"Man, what are you doing?" he hissed. "Just yesterday you were saying Stingray's our next break! Now you're sticking your tail between your legs just cause of this?" 

Peter grinned. "Hell no! We're moving our surveillance from Kirkland to Stingray, starting now." 

Matt blinked, somewhat taken aback. "But you just said...." 

Peter inclined his head down the hall in the direction Upham had gone. "That was just to shut him up. So long as he thinks we're investigating Kirkland, he won't bother us." 

Matt grinned. "What he don't know what hurt us? That's good to know. Just be careful, man. If he gets even a hint you're not doing what you say you're doing, he's going to be extremely pissed off." 

"Well, he won't know if everybody keeps their mouth's shut and lets me do the talking." 

"Got it." Matt said with a nod. "I'll pass the word." 

'Do that. Then we'd best be making tracks for the Silky Doll." Peter said and headed for the lifts. 

Peter and Matt watched the front of the Silky Doll from a spot down the street which provided a good line of sight of the shop, yet remained inconspicuous. It was now mid afternoon, and they had yet to see anything or anyone out of the ordinary. 

Throughout the day, Peter's mind wouldn't put the subject of Canberra's refusal to rest. He had forgotten to make those phone calls before he left in the morning, and so would have to wait until he got back to the Embassy before he got some answers. But that didn't stop him trying to work it out for himself. So far, the best explanation he could think of was that it was a personal vendetta by someone higher up. There was no operational reason to cut him off, they were making rapid progress in the investigation, and that always meant it was padded with more resources, not choked with less. 

If it was someone's petty vendetta, then it meant they considered the satisfaction gained by seeing him fail as sufficient to offset the risk to their jobs and possibly personal freedom for hindering an official investigation. Peter tried to think of who could harbour such ill will towards him, but came up empty. He had always played fair and given people credit where due, though such morals were mostly irrelevant in the world of covert ops. What mattered most was the results, not the means nor the people who got them. Everybody knew that and everybody played by the same rules. To do otherwise meant you weren't a team player and were ostracized by the rest of the community. 

Peter shook his head, trying to clear his mind and concentrate on the task at hand. It was difficult however, his thoughts kept returning to it. Something just didn't add up, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse before it got better. 

"Man, this is going to be a long wait." Matt said, emphasising the 'long'. 

Peter finally snapped back to the present. He looked up at the shop and saw a young woman enter. "We're not going to find anything sitting on our arses out here. We need to go inside and look around." 

Matt stifled a laugh. "I really see you going into a lingerie shop." he said sarcastically. 

Peter turned to him and grinned evilly. "Oh, _I'm_ not going in." 

Matt suddenly became very defensive. "Well I'm sure as shit not going in there either!" 

Peter's grin widened. "I didn't mean you. I have the perfect candidate in mind." 

*** 

"But why me?" whined Mary as Peter handed her the modified handbag. "Why not Anne?" 

"Because she's scheduled for tonight's shift and is getting some sleep at the moment." He said, then added "Besides, it's fun to watch you squirm like that." 

"I'm not squirming." Mary protested as she unconsciously shifted her weight as a result of her nervousness. Both Peter and Matt tried not to laugh. "But still, why do I have to do it?" 

"No more talk. Times a-wasting." Peter said as he pushed her out the car door. Mary steeled herself and closed the door, then stood and waited for a break in the traffic to cross the road. Peter grabbed a portable console and called up the readings from the sensors secreted in Mary's handbag. He picked up his radio. "Comm check." he said. 

"Check." Mary said into the concealed audio pickup. 

"Copy that. From now on, maintain radio silence at your end." 

Mary made put her hand to her head, ostensibly to scratch behind her ear, but instead made a discreet thumbs up signal. "Copy that." Peter said. "Sensor feed is good." he called up another screen on the console. "Ah Mary, turn the handbag around. The camera is pointed backwards." Mary breathed a slight sigh of frustration and moved the handbag from one shoulder to the other, turning it around in the process. "Okay, that's good." Peter said. 

A break in the traffic came and Mary dashed across the road. She hurried up the steps to the building and made her way past the promenade cafe that was situated next to the Silky Doll. Peter and Matt watched her progress through the camera. She entered the Stingray's shop and Peter saw an upmarket fashion boutique. Racks of scanty clothes and lingerie lined most walls and women from all walks of life perused them He even spotted a man inspecting a pink lace negligee, and Peter hoped he was shopping for his girlfriend or wife. A massive tank of water filled with exotic fish dominated one of the walls. "Move the camera around a bit so I can get a better idea of the layout." Peter ordered. Mary began to move and the camera's feed tilted and swung like crazy for several seconds, then settled down and Peter got a better view of the shop. He searched the many faces for someone familiar and soon spotted Sylia Stingray. "Hold it there." Peter commanded. "That's Stingray behind the counter." 

"You know, you should have her do something, otherwise she's going to look pretty funny just standing around." Matt suggested. 

Peter nodded. "I know." He spoke into the radio. "Okay Mary, go and have a look at something, but keep Stingray in view." The camera moved again as Mary walked to one of the racks and began perusing the merchandise. Mary proved adept at keeping the secret camera angled towards Sylia, and Peter watched as she served a woman. When finished Sylia scanned the customers and Peter's breath caught in his throat when her eyes came to rest on Mary. Sylia stepped out from behind the counter and made her way towards the Surveillance Officer. "Heads up Mary, Stingray's coming your way." he warned. 

"Hello there, may I help you?" he heard Sylia ask chirpily. 

"Ah yes, thank you. I'm looking for something for a date tonight." Mary replied. Peter heard an insincere warble in her voice and he hoped Sylia would just interpret that as nerves about this 'date'. 

"Oh, how wonderful." Sylia said. "You have an excellent figure. You'll want something to show it off." She rustled through a rack for a few minutes. As she did, she made idle chatter with Mary. "I just love your accent." she said. "Where are you from?" 

"Australia." Mary said. 

"Wonderful. I've always wanted to visit Australia, but I can just never find the time. You know how it is." 

"Yeah." Mary agreed, her vocabulary restricted by her nerves. 

"Ah, here it is." Sylia said and pulled out the skimpiest dress Peter had ever seen. "This is just the perfect thing for that lucky man tonight." 

Mary took the dress. "Oh, I really don't know." she said. 

"Why don't you try it on. I'm sure you'll agree you won't find any better." 

"Oh I couldn't." Mary protested. 

Peter looked at Matt. "What do you think?" 

"Stingray's really pushing for a sell. I think it would look funny if she didn't try something on." Matt said. 

"I agree." Peter spoke into the radio. "Try it on, then buy it. There's a credit card in the purse." 

Mary hesitated for a little before finally surrendering to Sylia's constant pressuring. The camera's view again tilted and swung like a boat being tossed at sea, before finally settling down and Peter saw they were in a change room. Mary set the handbag down, making sure the camera was pointed away from her. Matt and Peter shared a rueful look, then Peter turned his attention from the camera feed to the other sensors. "Okay, we're not detecting any security that's too sophisticated so far," he called up the EM field tester "WHOA!" he exclaimed, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. "Check out these readings." He said to Matt. 

The older man looked over Peter's shoulder. "Jesus H. Christ! Something's chewing up the juice over there." 

"Mary, move your handbag around it bit. We need to get a fix on this EM field we're detecting." Mary picked up the handbag and moved it around the room. There was no pattern in the change in the readings when she moved it from side to side, but when she moved it up and down, a pattern emerged. When the handbag was raised, the field readings dropped slightly, and when it was lowered, they rose. 

"Something's definitely under there." Matt said, thinking aloud. 

Peter nodded in agreement. "Okay Mary, buy whatever it is you've got and come back." 

The camera view swam a moment as she put it down. A few moments later it was picked up again and carried out of the change room. Mary paid for the garment and Sylia placed it neatly in a bag which Mary then carried out of the store. 

Mary crossed the road and hopped back in the car. 

"What did you buy?" Matt asked with a grin. 

Mary turned bright red and shook her head frantically, clutching the store bag close to her. Matt chuckled and Peter tired, unsuccessfully, to repress a smirk. 

"Wait here for a bit." Peter said as he opened his door and hopped out. 

"Where you going, man?" Matt asked. 

"I'm just going to do a walk around of the building." he said as he closed the door. 

Peter waited for a break in the traffic and crossed the road. Climbing the steps onto the lower concourse, he began walking around the building in an anticlockwise direction, playing the part of any other pedestrian when he was actually discreetly examining every facet of the structure. 

Approximately thirteen storeys tall, undoubtedly with more below ground. Peter found the round columns which formed the corners of the building an interesting design feature, especially how one appeared to be twice the size of the others. 

Turning off the main street, he entered a wide alley that separated this building from the others in the street. Around here the walls were much plainer, without the large floor to ceiling windows that dominated the other two sides. What was mounted on these walls was a plethora of surveillance devices; camera's, motion sensors, proximity detectors. There were enough intruder alarms to make this place just as secure as Fort Knox, if not more so. As he walked down the alley, he noted many of the camera's turned to track his progress. He kept his face turned away from them. 

Around the back of the building he found a large, heavy roller door, obviously leading down to a parking garage. He slowed down slightly as he passed it so as to have time to inspect it. There were no locks or keypads on the outside, so Peter had to assume that it was operated by remote control. Picking up the pace again, he continued around the corner and back onto the main street. 

Hoping back into the car, he indicated for Matt to drive. The older Surveillance Officer pulled into the traffic and started a circular route back to the Embassy. "So what did you find?" he asked. 

"Enough security there to satisfy the Secret Service." Peter replied. 

"Really? Why so much?" Mary asked. 

"I wouldn't have a clue." Peter said, shaking his head. "But I'm sure as hell gonna find out." 

*** 

Peter leaned on the only table in the Security Centre, perfervidly studying a holographic map of Stingray's building. Marked in different colours where the locations and field of views of all the security systems they had identified so far, turning the map into a technicolour mishmash. Plans and routes through the building flew through his mind and he systematically and thoroughly examined every one of them for flaws before discarding them and moving onto the next one. 

Johnson appeared in the Security Centre and made his way to Peter's side, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Got a plan worked out yet?" he asked. 

Peter, his concentration broken, looked at Johnson a moment, then back down at the map and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No." he said with a slight shake of his head. "I haven't done a covert break and enter in years. I keep coming up with plans that would only work if I was assaulting the building with a special forces unit." 

"Old habits die hard. I think your problem is you're still thinking too much as a soldier. You need to start thinking like a thief." 

Peter smirked. "I was taught not to steal stuff." 

Johnson smiled back. "So was I, but you learn as you go." He looked at the map. "Unfortunately, whoever designed this security system was both good and had a lot of money." He studied the map for a moment. "But, you know, there might be a way." he pointed to various highlighted parts of the map. "This system seems to have been designed to provide both early warning and physically keep people out, rather than the normal detection and deterrent philosophy most systems are based on. See how it relies mostly on security gates and firewalls to isolate parts of the building?" 

Peter nodded. "So how do I turn that to my advantage?" 

"Well, to properly secure the building most of the sensors are located on the outside, to provide early warning and detection. Once you're inside, the systems aren't as comprehensive. They don't need to be." 

Peter nodded understandingly. "So once I'm passed the first lot, things are a lot easier." He regarded the map for a moment. "Most of the outside sensors are aimed at the ground, which is to be expected. I can see three possible ways around them. Hide somewhere in the store and wait till closing, in through a window on one of the upper floors, or down from the roof. 

"Hiding in the store would be the least riskiest, but also likely to have the least probability of success. I'm sure it would get sealed off at night. Going in through a window is the worst of the lot. According to the plans for the building, all the windows are permanently sealed, which means I'd have to break the glass, so we can rule that out. That then leaves us with the roof...." he trailed off, leaving that thought to hang in the air. 

"And just how are you planning on getting onto the roof?" Johnson asked. 

"I'll be spotted if I try climbing. That leaves me with only one option, an aerial insertion." 

Johnson choked on his coffee in surprise. "An aerial insertion?" he sputtered. "I thought this was supposed to be covert." 

"It's possible. I've done it before, but then that was in a relatively isolated area, not the middle of a major city." 

Johnson shook his head. "I've got to see this." he said incredulously. Peter grinned at him. 

*** 

The Embassy helicopter flew as low over the buildings as the pilot could go without arousing suspicion this late at night. Peter sat in the back, dressed from head to toe in his black fatigues and combat vest and with a rappelling harness strapped around his waist and upper thighs. Matt was the only other occupant. 

"Five minutes." The pilot said over the intercom. Peter nodded and gave a thumbs up sign, then opened the helicopters door. A chill wind rushed in and tugged at him. 

"Sure you want to do this, man?" Matt said, a slight edge in his voice betraying his nervousness at the thought of anyone jumping out of a perfectly good helicopter. 

"Of course. I used to do this for fun!" Peter said as he checked his gear and harness for a fifth and final time and then had Matt double check it. Satisfied that all was as it should be, he gathered the rappelling rope and paid out about half the required length. Tossing that out the door, he shouldered the rest of the coiled line and set himself into position; heels just on edge, facing inwards. Gripping the line in the correct manner, he stood at the precipice and paused. He looked up at Matt who was cowering as far back from the open door as possible. He gave him cheery smile and a wave before leaning back into a sitting position and feeling himself fall backwards out of the helicopter. The wind rushed by him as he glanced downwards and watched the amount of free line below him rapidly growing smaller. As he drew perilously near the end, he adjusted his grip on the line, allowing the harness to grip and break his descent with barely a metre left. 

Sitting back in his harness, he watched as the buildings of Tokyo passed below him. They were approaching Stingray's building from the west where the buildings were relatively short and provided them with a rather unobstructed corridor through which to fly, which was fortunate as the last thing Peter wanted was to smash into the side of a skyscraper or get tangled in aerials. 

"One minute." he heard the pilots voice in his earpiece. 

"Copy that." Peter acknowledged. He looked to the east and spotted his target building, lit up from below. As they neared it, the pilot slowed down somewhat, but Peter still had to time his drop carefully as they couldn't risk raising suspicions by hovering over the building. 

They cleared the last tall obstacle before Stingray's building, a communications tower, and Peter dropped the remainder of the line. The building grew near and Peter began to make out details on the roof. The surface of a large pool that ran up the centre of the building dominated the roof, surrounded by a well maintained patio and rooftop garden and a penthouse that occupied a full quarter of the space. He picked out his chosen spot, a clear area of the patio well away from any lights or security cameras. 

Peter unshouldered the rest of the coiled line and dropped it, allowing it to uncoil to its full length. He watched the end and judge it too high for his purpose. "End of the rope is too high." he said over the radio. "Come down a metre and a half." 

"Copy." The pilot replied. Peter felt his stomach jump as the helicopter dropped just over one and a half metres. Peter checked the line again, judged it suitable and informed the pilot. 

Stingray's building loomed barely metres ahead of him. Peter adjusted his grip again, releasing the friction brake and restarting his descent. Unlike earlier, this was a controlled descent, aimed at placing him on the roof of the building just as the helicopter flew over. 

The concrete surface of the patio rushed up to meet him and Peter released his control to drop the final few feet. Landing on his feet, the rubber soles of his boots making barely any sound, he immediately dropped to a crouch and surveyed the roof top. As expected, no one else was about and the sole security camera was pointed away from him. 

With a slight tugging, the end of the line worked its way through his harness, coming free with a slight snap. "Central, Sneaker down and free." he whispered into his radio. 

"Central copies." Johnson's voice was quiet but clear in Peter's ear. Peter waited a moment, watching the helicopter disappear into the darkness, the rappelling line hastily being reeled in by Matt. He waited a minute longer, ensuring no one had seen or heard his landing. Positive he was so far undetected, he set off in a crouching run across the patio and around the pool, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. He reached the penthouse and took a moment to examine the lock on the door. It struck him that Stingray must really be paranoid to lock a rooftop door that was over thirteen stories up with no external fire escapes or other means to access it. 

Running his scanner over the lock, it came back negative, meaning it was a simple mechanical mechanism. Pulling two wire probes from a hip pocket, he inserted them into the keyhole and worked them back and forth. After a moment, he heard a satisfying click and he opened the door and slipped through. 

Inside he found a sparsely, but tastefully decorated covered pool deck. Light from the city poured in through the large floor to ceiling windows that opened onto the roof, illuminating large sections of the room, but casting the rest into dark shadows. Reaching into a pouch on his combat vest, he withdrew a pair of goggles. Resembling a flexible LCD display which was held in place over his eyes by a strap, the set activated as soon he slipped them on. Peter blinked at the sudden brightness that met his eyes, like someone had just flipped on a light. He looked around the room, the goggles automatically adjusting for light levels as well as converting other forms of radiation into the visible spectrum, allowing him to pick out the electrical wiring in the building and any motion sensors. Fortunately this room was clear. 

Spotting a large pot plant near the lounge area, he moved over and inspected it closely. Judging it adequate for his needs, he fished another electronic bug, identical to what he had installed in Kirklands garage, out of his combat vest and shoved it into the pot plant, burying it at least an inch below the soil. Satisfied this room was adequately bugged, he moved down a hall into the rest of the building. 

Walking in a slow, deliberate fashion, he stopped outside the first door he came across. Testing the knob, he found it unlocked and pushed it open a crack. Inside he saw a spacious bedroom with a magnificent view of the city. The centre of the room was occupied by a large bed upon which slept a beautiful young woman. Peter immediately recognized Sylia Stingray and backed out, silently closing the door. He judged it too risky to attempt to bug her bedroom, especially while she was sleeping in it. 

Stepping back out into the hall, he continued down, locating a few other empty bedrooms along the way, guest rooms most likely, and he methodically bugged each one. Finally, after bugging the last room on this level, he located a staircase and continued down to the next level of the residence. After inspecting for any alarms or intruder detectors, he explored this area. As expected this was mostly just the main living area which featured lounge and family rooms, a dinning room and kitchen and a study, all of which he bugged. He also came across another bedroom, this one occupied by an old man with long white hair and a full moustache. Meshio Henderson. Sylia's butler. As Peter shut the door, he contemplated how nice it must be to always have someone at your beck and call. 

By now the only area left for Peter to bug was Sylia's Silky Doll store. He made his way down several flights of stairs to a mezzanine lounge area which overlooked the store, he didn't want to take any elevators on the off chance that someone was awake and monitoring their motions. He opened the stairwell door and immediately drew back. The whole area was covered with multiple motion sensors and proximity alarms. Pulling out another device from his combat vest, he switched it on and let it scan the EM spectrum for the frequency the motion sensors used. The sensor defeater was a highly classified device developed by a few electrical engineers employed by the CIA and then manufactured under a secret contract by Marconi Electronics. The device nullified any abnormal signal returns to the motion sensors and replaced them with false normal returns, fooling the sensors into seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The beauty of this particular device, adapted by the technical geniuses at ASIO, was that it also worked on ultrasonic motion sensors as well as the ultraviolet ones. With the device active, he wandered warily over to the railing and looked out over the store. 

Racks of lingerie, a few change rooms and that giant fish tank which ran the entire height of the building were just as they were in the video they shot. The enhanced vision goggles picked up multiple motion sensors throughout the store, in addition to laser trip beams. This close to the bottom of the building, he was also seeing the massive amounts of electromagnetic energy being radiated by whatever was below. 

He examined the store, then the low wall he was leaning against, and spotted the perfect place for the next bug, hidden amongst the greenery of a decorative vine that hung over the railing. He attached the device to the wall and arranged the leaves to hide it, yet still provide a clear line of sight to the main door. 

Satisfied he had done all he could this night, he was about to turn and head back up to the roof for extraction when he noticed something odd about one of the change rooms. The enhanced vision goggles were picking up several high voltage power lines running down a space a short distance behind the room. Thinking they could be connected to whatever it was below, Peter decided to investigate. 

Making his way carefully down the stairs, he stopped at the foot and looked around. There were several motion sensors located throughout the shop, in addition to the laser trip beams and several more forming a grid over the front windows and door and several security cameras trained on every inch of the store. With the motion sensors already nullified and Peter able to see and easily avoid the laser beams, the camera's would prove his only obstacle. 

He quickly examined each camera and determined their fields of view. With a smile, he silently thanked whoever had installed them for they had obviously been meant to catch shoplifters and watch the front of the store, not catch anybody intruding from the inside. Stepping gingerly, he duck walked from the stairs to the change room, keeping behind the racks of clothing. Reaching the change room, he pulled open the partitioning and slipped through. 

From Peter's experience, one could always tell how upmarket a shop was by their change rooms, and the Silky Doll was extremely posh. The room was extremely spacious and included a couch, a stylish end table against the other wall, and the all important floor to ceiling mirrors. 

Peter walked to the far mirror, behind which the goggles picked up the EM field from the high voltage wires, as well as the telltale signs of an electric motor. Intrigued, he stopped and looked around the room. In a corner he spotted a hidden motion sensor and traced the small wires connecting it to the motor. Walking right up to the mirror, he inspected it closely. Two very fine cracks run vertically up and down the mirror, and the space between them was just wide enough for one person to fit through. He placed a hand on either side of one of the cracks and gave an experimental push. He felt the section between the two cracks give slightly in comparison to the rest of the mirror. He smiled to himself. Of all the secret doors he had encountered in his life, this was one of the most cleverly constructed ones that wasn't in government use, but like all secret doors, once you knew what to look for, they were very easily spotted. 

Peter pulled his electronic lock scanner from his combat vest and ran it over the motor behind the mirror. The scanner interrogated the motors simple circuitry and replicated the electronic signal to activate. The door moved back from the mirror slightly and then slide aside, revealing a short passage to an elevator with glass walls that run up the inside of the fish tank. Peter stopped short of the elevator and peered inside. He spotted a small bioelectric sensor in the elevators panel. Glancing up and down, he figured that the elevator would run between Stingray's residence on the top floor and whatever was underneath the building. The presence of the bioelectic sensor hinted that a computer was monitoring the elevator and would no doubt log any use of it. 

Backing out of the elevator, Peter closed the secret door and left the change room. Sneaking back through the shop, he ascended the stairs and worked his was back up to the roof. Once outside, he locked the door he entered the building through and crept back to the spot he had landed at. 

Setting a final bug amongst some shrubbery, he whispered over his radio. "Central, Sneaker, standing by for extraction." 

"Central copies, Buzzfly is on the way, ETA two minutes." 

"Copy that." Peter whispered and sat back on his haunches to wait. 

Two minutes later a distant beat of propeller blades was heard from the north and quickly grew louder. Peter looked up and spotted the Embassy helicopter rapidly approach, the rappelling line hanging beneath it. As before, the pilot was going to fly directly over the building, and Peter would get only one chance at grabbing the line. 

As the helicopter approached, Peter could see the pilot slow down as much as he could without appearing suspicious, and readied himself. The helicopter passed overhead, and Peter, fighting against the buffet from the rotor, launched himself at the line. Gripping it with both hands, he hauled himself up and felt his stomach drop as the pilot picked up his speed and altitude. 

Pulling his legs up, he wrapped the line around his feet to form a foothold and began ascending. By the time he reached the top several minutes later, he was sweating and exhausted from the climb, and his arm muscles ached from having to haul his weight straight up. Clambering back into the helicopter's compartment, he felt a welcome hand from Matt grab him and haul him in. Collapsing on the floor, he took several deep breathes before leaning up on his elbows and looking at the Surveillance Officer who was just finishing pulling up the dangling line. "I'm getting too old for that." Peter quipped with an exhausted smile. 

"Turning soft are you?" Matt replied with a grin. 

"Must be. Ten years ago I would have been able to do that without any hassles." 

"So, did you get all the devices in place?" Matt asked as he closed the helicopters door. 

Peter nodded. "All over the residence and shop. We'll hear every word that's said in that place." he said. "I also found a secret elevator that connects the residence and shop with whatever's underneath." he added in a nonchalant fashion. 

Matt's eyes went wide. "A secret elevator? Where?" 

"Would you believe inside that massive fish tank?" 

Matt sat back and leaned against the door. "Inside the tank?" he repeated to himself. Shaking his head, he said "Well bugger me and blow me a wet one!" 

Peter gave him an odd sideways glance. 

Matt looked up and caught it. "Not literally." 

Peter smiled humorously and shook his head. "Whatever you say, mate." 

*** 

A rough shaking of his foot brought Peter fully awake. He automatically shifted his position and his hand was already on his gun, when he realized it Johnson at the end of the couch, shaking him awake. Peter breathed a slight sigh of relief as Johnson said "You might want to hear this." 

"What?" Peter asked, standing and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

"Stingray's awake." 

This roused Peter to full consciousness and he followed Johnson out of his office and into the Security Centre. 

Cooper got up from the work station they had commandeered for their remote surveillance and let Peter sit. "Listen to this." he said and pressed a button. A video recording appeared on the screen, showing Sylia Stingray, dressed only in a short gown, sitting at a table on the rooftop patio eating breakfast with Henderson waiting on her nearby. After a moment, Sylia appeared to get unnerved by the way Henderson was watching her and put her cutlery down. 

"What is it Henderson?" she asked, not looking up. 

"I was just wondering if you had made a decision yet, Milady?" 

"No, I haven't. I'm waiting till everybody arrives tonight with what information they've collected, then I'll make one." Sylia paused and looked at her butler. "But of course you already knew that, so what's really on your mind Henderson?" 

Henderson hesitated a moment before replying, obviously choosing his words carefully. "I am.... not quite sure as to whether you realize what the stakes are now." 

"I know what's at stake." Sylia said quietly. 

"Do you? These people aren't another law enforcement agency. If they decide it prudent, they will kill you." 

Suddenly Sylia was on her feet, knocking the table over as she stood "And just what do you think the ADP's been trying to do for these last few weeks?" she screamed at Henderson. Henderson just stood there and didn't flinch. Sylia caught herself and reeled in her temper. "I'm sorry Henderson, I'm just under a lot pressure at the moment." 

"I understand, Milady. Would you like something more to eat?" he said, drawing Sylia's attention to her breakfast which was now scattered all over the patio. 

"No, thank you Henderson. I'm going to take a shower now." she said and walked back inside. 

The recording ended, leaving a blank screen. "That just happened a few minutes ago." Cooper explained. 

Peter nodded. "Great. Now we know there's going to be some meeting tonight." He leaned back in the chair. "Though I'm a bit worried about how much they've been able to determine about us; they've already figured out we're not cops." 

"You think they're onto our surveillance?" Cooper asked. 

Peter shook his head. "If they knew they were under surveillance, I doubt they would have spoken so openly." 

"Will this finally get us some help?" 

"No. Given Canberra's sudden change of heart over this operation, they're going to need something more tangible than this." 

Cooper nodded understandingly and returned his attention to the monitor. 

*** 

Peter sat at the workstation in the Security Centre, watching a patchwork of live feeds from various devices. He had decided not to put anybody out the front of the building tonight, just in case Stingray was watching for observers, though he kept Charles and Mary watching the front of K's Garage. Earlier that day he had hidden several more bugs throughout the gardens and landscaping that surrounded the shopping concourse so they could watch how people arrived. 

Peter leaned back in the chair and stretched. Matt, who had pulled up a second chair behind him to watch, leaned forward and mumbled "Shouldn't be too much longer." 

Peter nodded and grumbled as well. "Why can't these things happen at our convenience and not theirs?" 

Matt grunted an agreement as Johnson wandered their way and leaned over Peter's shoulder. "I take it nothing's happened yet?" 

"Well about an hour ago we saw a snail in the garden." Peter said with mock enthusiasm. 

Johnson looked at his watch. "Well, it's been forty eight hours since that last meeting, something should happen soon." 

"Yeah, that's what we think too." Peter said as he turned his attention back to the computer screen. Some movement on one of the feeds caught his eye. "Whoa, here we go." he said as a woman on a red bike rode up along the shopping concourse and parked outside the Silky Doll. 

"Hey! That's that woman that cut us off the other week! Just before we spotted that K's garage." Matt said. 

Peter shook his head in disbelief. "I should have known." he said. They watched as she dismounted and removed her helmet, giving them a clear view of her face. It was pretty, her most striking feature being her eyes, but her dark hair was wild and unkempt. "What do you wanna bet she's the one in blue." Peter said, judging her height and build. 

Matt shook his head. "No way. I'm not betting against that." 

The biker girl entered the Silky Doll and Peter switched to the bug inside the shop, with which they tracked her progress through the change room and into the secret elevator. Switching back to the external view, they waited a few more minutes until another two young women arrived together. One had brown hair cut short at the back but long at the sides and the other had short blonde hair. 

"There's another two." Matt commented. 

Peter nodded in agreement. "That's three. One to go. I wonder if Kirkland and the kid are going to show up as well tonight?" 

"Just have to wait and see." Matt said. 

They didn't have to wait long. Almost immediately after the two girls descended to whatever was below the building, the mechanic and his assistant arrived. They too took the elevator down too. Then Peter and Matt waited another half hour, but nobody else showed. 

"That looks like that's all of them." Peter said. 

"Still no sign of this supposed fourth one." Matt commented. 

Peter nodded, then added. "Well, three's better than nothing." he leaned back in his chair. "Now we just have to wait for them to come out. In the meantime, let's get to work identifying these other three." 

After pulling the best pictures they could get of their faces from the recordings, their first step was to search the JIO's database for any match. As Peter expected, there were none, so he expanded it to include the databases from all Australian intelligence agencies and foreign ones they had intelligence sharing agreements with, principally the CIA, NSA and FBI in the United States, MI5 and MI6 in Britain and the FSB in Russia, what was once the infamous KGB. They also came back negative. 

"Well that's to be expected." Peter said, leaning back in his chair after getting the negative result message. "They're too young to have really caught anyone's eye before." 

"We had files on Kirkland and Stingray." Matt pointed out. 

"Because they were involved in the original boomer project. We had files on everyone, right down to the janitors and their families. We're not going to find anything on these three from the intelligence community." Turning to Johnson, he said. "Can you get us into the police files." 

"Sure." the Security Chief said, walking to a workstation. "The backdoors we used should still be there." he typed in a few commands, then waited a minute while the connection was established through a disused but still functional fax line in the basement maintenance office. "All right, you're in." Johnson said with a nod. 

Peter thanked him then attempted to initiate a database wide search, but was met with an authorization error. "What the?!" he exclaimed. 

Johnson came over to have a look. "That's new." he said. He tried a few different combinations of letters and numbers, but kept being denied access. Finally he gave up. "You're going to have to get the proper hackers back in Canberra to get that for you." 

Peter shook his head. "To do that I'll need Upham's consent as Station Chief. That's why I haven't had a phone tap put in place on Stingray." 

"So how are we going to do this then?" Matt asked. 

"Since our hacking abilities are somewhat limited at the moment, we'll just have to do it the way they did before computers were invented. We'll hit the streets." 

"You can't be serious!" Matt said with a derisive snort. "With just the seven of us in a city this size, it will take years." 

"Then the sooner we start, the sooner it'll get done." Peter said with a wicked grin. He stood up and gathered together his papers before heading for the exit, giving Johnson his first clear view of the girls faces. 

"Hang on a minute, Pete." He said. 

Peter stopped, turned and hurried back to Johnson's side. "What?" 

"I've seen her before." Johnson said, indicating the biker. 

"Where?" 

Johnson stood and looked around the Security Centre. "Williams!" he called, spotting a young guard watching a bank of security monitors. 

"Sir?" Williams said, dividing his attention between the monitors and his boss. 

"Who's the lead singer of that band you keep on going on about? The one that plays at that club." 

"Sekira? That'd be Priss Asagiri, sir." 

"Is this her?" 

Hurrying over to Johnson and Peter, Williams took one look at the picture and nodded. "That's her, sir. I'd recognize her anywhere." he suddenly looked concerned. "Ah, she's not in any trouble, is she?" 

Johnson looked at Peter. 

"No." Peter said. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught on our surveillance cameras is all." 

The young guard looked relieved. "That's good to know, sir." 

"All right, back to your work." Johnson dismissed him. Williams nodded and hurried back to his security monitors. 

Peter turned to Matt. "What was that you were saying?" he verbally jabbed with a broad grin. 

Matt rolled his eyes and held up his hands in resignation. "Fine, we're off to a good start." 

Peter's grin widened. "Looks like I've got a little clubbing to do." 

*** 

The elevator doors opened, admitting Nigel and Mackey into the Pit. 

"Let's get this meeting underway." Sylia said. "Nene, have you managed to hack the Ministry of Intelligence's computers yet?" 

"Yep. I got what you wanted Sylia." the young blonde said as she walked to a computer terminal and inserted a disk. A long list of files appeared on the screen. "I also managed to identify that accent, and it is Australian. I then cross referenced it with this list of known and suspected foreign agents and found that about two weeks ago a team of Australian Protective Services officers arrived in Tokyo to evaluate security at their Embassy." 

"So?" asked Linna. 

"So, I did some more checking and found that a security review was conducted just a few months ago, and the next one wasn't due until next year. Kinda strange that they would see the need to conduct another so soon, don't ya think? And you know what else I found?" 

"What?" 

"The day after that team arrived, a delivery of new computers for the Australian Embassy arrived, marked with diplomatic tags so customs wasn't allowed to touch it." 

"And why ship computers in from Australia when they could buy them here." Sylia finished off. 

"Yep." Nene nodded. "What do you want to bet those computers were actually surveillance gear and other spy gizmos?" 

Priss spoke. "What sort of surveillance gear?" 

"Oh, you know, the usual, listening bugs, tracking devices, remote surveillance units, that sort of stuff." 

"Sylia, would we know if they'd planted any of that around here?" Priss asked. 

"Well I do conduct regular security sweeps of the building, but unfortunately these new devices are very difficult to detect. You could be staring right at one and you won't see it. Nene, what about that helicopter?" 

Nene winked knowingly. "There's only six customers for that model in Japan, three are owned by corporations here in Tokyo, two are owned by a flight school in Nagasaki, and guess who owns the sixth." 

"The Australian Embassy?" Linna asked. 

"Bingo!" 

Sylia pondered this new information for a moment. "It's still all just very circumstantial, but there's too many pieces that just fit together for it to be a coincidence." 

"So what do we do? We can't attack an Embassy." said Priss. 

"No, we can't. That'll just draw too much attention." Sylia agreed. "Priss, I want you and Nene to suit up and scout it out. Find out what their security is like." 

Priss and Nene nodded and left to change into their skin suits. 

"What do I do?" Linna asked. 

Sylia smiled. "You're going to help me look for any bugs in the building. Nigel, you and Mackey return to your shop and look for any there." 

"Right Sis." Mackey said and hurried to the elevator. Nigel followed him without a word. 

*** 

"There's the Embassy." Priss said to Nene over the radio as they sailed through the air. 

"Yeah, I see it. We don't want to get too close until I have a chance to check it out first." Nene replied. 

"Right. We'll land on that building there." Priss pointed to a building a few blocks from the Embassy and several stories taller than those around it, providing them with a clear line of sight. 

They touched down and Nene set to work scanning the building. 

"Well?" Priss asked impatiently after a few minutes. 

"Just give me time, okay. It's not like I can do this in a second, you know." 

"Well hurry it up. We're too exposed out here." 

"All done." Nene said and stood up. 

"And?" 

"Well, let's just say we don't want to go flying in there. They've got an automated surface to air missile launcher and a radar on the roof." 

"The government let them do that?" Priss asked in surprise. 

"Don't you know? Because of what's happening in the South Pacific, three of their embassies have been attacked in the last five years. They're right up the top of every terrorists hit list along with the United States and Israel." 

"That rules out an aerial attack. How close can we get without being spotted?" 

"We should be able to get within a couple of blocks if we keep our jumps small and stay under their radar." 

"Then what are we waiting for." Priss said and took a running leap to the next building, firing her thrusters for a little extra momentum. Nene copied her move and landed just as Priss took off again, landing on the next building. Nene followed and they made their way to within two blocks by leaping between the buildings. 

Nene settled down to scan the building again from a closer distance, and Priss crouched next to her. 

"My, my, look at all the camera's. It's like a television studio over there." 

"But you can do something about that, right?" Priss asked. 

"Oh sure. I'll just use the same trick I pulled on the ADP at the factory." 

"We'll save that until we need it. What else can you see?" 

"We'll, there's tons of other sensors. None out the front for obvious reasons, but there's plenty around the sides and back. Whoever designed this set up was good. I don't think even a fly could get close without their noticing." 

"Okay, what about their defences?" 

"Nothing visible, I'd have to pull the plans to find out what they've really got. But for this time of night, there's still an army of people crawling around inside." 

"Weapons?" 

"Just pistols at the moment, but that's not to say they don't have anything larger tucked away." 

"What about boomers?" 

"Just one or two cleaning boomers." 

"All right, that's about all we can get for tonight without getting spotted. Let's go." Priss turned and began leaping between the roofs, heading back to a point where they could safely resume their normal method of travel. Nene followed her. 

*** 

Sylia and Linna stepped into the inside pool deck, each holding a sensitive EM detector which they ran over every wall and conceivable place to hide a listening device. More sensitive than any commercially available detector, Sylia had had Nigel make several of them shortly after recruiting him, and used them quite frequently. They'd already swept every other room in the building and come up with nothing. 

"Still nothing." Sylia said, her voice not reflecting the conflicting state she was in, between relief that they hadn't found anything and frustration at not finding anything. 

"Ah, Sylia?" Linna said. Sylia turned and saw her aiming her detector at a large pot plant. "I'm getting something from this plant." 

"Let me see that." Sylia took the scanner from Linna and examined the display. There was a very faint signal, barely registering, but definitely out of the ordinary for a plant. Tossing the detector onto a nearby couch, Sylia knelt and began digging around in the dirt. After several minutes, her hand grasped something small and solid and she withdrew it. 

She stood and opened her hand, presenting what she found for Linna to see, a small electronic device about the size of a shirt button and covered in soil. Then, without warning, Sylia dropped it on the ground and crushed it under foot. 

*** 

"Oh shit! Holy shit!" Matt said as one of the video feeds went dead. 

"What?" Peter said, coming over to him. 

"They just found the one in the upstairs pool deck." 

Peter leaned in front of Matt and tapped a few controls. Rewinding the video footage back, he watched as Sylia groped around in the soil, found the bug and then crushed it. He slammed his fist down on the desk hard enough to make the computer monitor jump clean into the air. 

*** 

"That was a bug?" Linna asked, regarding the destroyed bit of electronics with some curiosity. 

"Yes, and there's undoubtedly more of them." Sylia said. 

"But where? We searched the entire building." 

"They must be making them so power efficient that not even Nigel's detectors can pick them up." 

"Then how come we spotted that one?" 

Sylia inspected the plant. "This is a pH hungry plant. Maybe the alkaline in the soil magnified the bugs EM field just enough for it to register." 

"Wow. Maybe I should get some for my apartment." 

"C'mon." Sylia said, heading for the elevator. "I'll call Nigel and see if they've found anything." 

*** 

"What about the others? Have they found anymore?" Peter asked as he scanned a status display of all the bugs he had planted. 

"We saw them going from room to room and scanning everything with those EM field detectors, but they couldn't find the others." 

Peter sat back, somewhat relieved. "It was just that one. All the others are still there. Unfortunately, now they know they've been bugged, they're going to be doubly careful about what they say." 

*** 

"Yeah.....all right......I got it." Nigel said and hung up the phone, then slipped it back into the pocket of his overalls. "That was Sylia." he said to Mackey who was running another detector over the walls of the Garage. "They just found a bug in the upstairs pool deck." 

"Really?" Mackey said, stopping his scanning. 

"Yeah. She also says these bugs are undetectable by our scanners. They're EM field's too weak." 

"So how do we find them?" 

"The old fashioned way. We use our eyes and look." Nigel turned and headed into his office. There, he knelt by the sole pot plant and began digging around in the dirt. Finally he gripped something and pulled it out. A small button shaped and sized device lay in the palm of his hand. Clutching it carefully, lest he drop it, he walked back out into the workshop area. 

"Find anything?" Mackey asked as he searched a tool box, physically pulling every tool out and inspecting it. Nigel said nothing, but walked over to a work bench and dropped the bug on it. He then picked up a pair of jumper leads, plugged them in and touched one on either side of the bug. There was a flash accompanied by a sharp sizzling sound and a plume of smoke as the surge of electricity fried the devices delicate circuitry. 

*** 

"There goes the one in Screwdrivers office!" Matt said. 

Peter sat in front of the computer, chin resting in his hands watching two lots of video feeds, one from K's Garage and one from Stingray's residence. So far they had accounted for five of the seven subjects; Stingray, Kirkland, the kid and one of the Knight Sabers, and he found himself wondering where the other two were. Priss Asagiri's bike was still parked outside the shop and they hadn't seen them leave any other way. 

"Unit Two, Central. You still outside Screwdriver?" he said into the radio. 

"Central, Unit two. Yeah we are." Charles replied. 

"Get over to Kmart pronto." he ordered, using their new code name for Stingray's shop. 

"Unit Two, copy that." Charles replied and clicked off. 

"So what do we do now?" Matt asked. 

"There's not much we can do about those bugs at the moment, they'll have to wait till later. Right now I want to find those other two Knight Sabers." 

*** 

Priss and Nene stepped out of the launcher to find Sylia and Linna waiting for them. 

"So what did you find?" she asked. 

"Let's just say you don't want to be a fly on a wall around there if things go to hell." Priss replied. "You find anything." 

Sylia held out the remnants of the bug. 

"Wow. That's small." Nene commented. 

"And Nigel just found one in his shop." Sylia told them. "Fortunately, his remained relatively intact." 

"So what do we do now?" Priss asked. 

"Well, first of all, I want to look at the information you and Nene collected, then we'll decide. Until then, all of you go home and get some rest. I'll call you when I need you." 

*** 

Peter sat, watching every remaining video feed for any sign off the other two Knight Sabers. He had watched Stingray and the other one enter the elevator down to underneath the building, possibly to meet with the other two, he supposed. Kirkland and the kid were still tearing their garage apart looking for more bugs. Fortunately they didn't seem to think to look inside their power points and light fixtures, so the remaining bugs were still active. He could still see the discovered bug on Kirklands workbench, and hoped the anti-tamper systems had managed to destroy the internal circuitry. 

The radio crackled into life and Charlie's voice could be heard. "Central, Unit Two. We just arrived on station and noticed two subjects returning via the roof." 

"Unit two, Central, copy that." Peter clicked off. 

"We didn't even noticed they'd left." Matt commented. 

Peter agreed. "And where the hell did they go?" Although he wouldn't say it, he already had a deep suspicion. 

*** 

Peter drove past Hot Legs nightclub at a sedate pace, observing the security in place. At the entrance a half dozen burly bouncers kept a crowd of young night clubbers from swarming the establishment. Driving past he found a spot down the street to park and walked back. He decided to leave his gun behind, even though it made him feel somewhat vulnerable and not quite right without it. 

Nothing much else had happened last night. They had watched the three Knight Sabers leave, gotten some more pictures of them and dug up as much information on Priss Asagiri as possible, but were still unable to identify who the other two were. 

He joined the end of the line and waited. When he eventually got to the front, the bouncer looked him over and checked his attire was suitable. Peter, anticipating some dress regulations, had worn a shirt and a good pair of slacks with a matching jacket. 

Once the bouncer was satisfied, Peter paid the cover charge and waited while another bouncer ran a scanner over him to look for concealed weapons. 

"What time does the band go on?" Peter inquired when the bouncer finished his scan. 

"Couple of hours." the man replied then turned to the next patron in line. 

Peter stepped into the entrance and walked down the stairs to the club. 

It was a little after nine, yet the club was already packed from wall to wall by a sea of people, all moving in time to some new age dance music being played loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. Peter pushed his way to the bar and managed to find a spot near the back wall. It took a while for the bartender to get around to him, but Peter was content to wait. To avoid seeming out of place, he ordered a beer, then settled himself down to wait, while occasionally sipping his beer and resisting the temptation to guzzle it. He couldn't afford to become intoxicated, so that one beer had to last him all night. 

Finally, after several hours of waiting, what little lights there were dimmed and the dance music was replaced by the DJ's voice encouraging everybody to give a warm welcome to the band Sekira. The crowd went wild then fell silent as an odd electronic pitch filled the room, accompanied by an irregular beat, followed several seconds later by an explosion of spot lights and heavily distorted guitar. 

Peter counted four members in the band, two men on lead guitar and bass and another on the drums. His attention, however, was drawn to the figure near the front of the stage, a young woman with wild hair and wearing a red suit. She swayed in time with the music, then suddenly grabbed the microphone and began singing. Peter smiled to himself. He had definitely found the blue Knight Saber. 

Peter removed a small camera from his pocket and focused it on Priss. He filmed her for over a minute, before shutting it off and putting it away, satisfied he had enough footage. Picking up his half finished beer, he settled back to watch the show. The music, while not exactly to his present liking, would have appealed to him ten years ago, and Peter felt a stab of nostalgia for his youth. Looking around, he realized none of the other patrons couldn't be any older than twenty five, and Peter suddenly felt like an old man among a sea of children. 

Pushing such thoughts and feelings aside, Peter once again settled back to wait. He occupied his time by inspecting the security in the club and searching the faces in the crowd for the other two Knight Sabers. Finally the band played their last song and retreated backstage while the crowd cheered and chanted for more. After it became clear the band wouldn't be returning, the DJ started his music and the crowd began dancing again. 

Peter leaned over the bar and caught the bartenders attention. "Excuse me, I'm a private investigator," he flashed a fake PI licence the JIO had hastily prepared for him earlier that day, then held up the pictures of the other two Knight Sabers. "and I was wondering if you'd seen either of these two women before?" 

The bartender took the pictures and examined them closely. "Yeah, I've seen 'em here before. I think they're friends with that singer that was just on." 

"Really?" Peter said, feigning surprise. "Would I be able to ask her a few questions?" 

"I don't know, you'll have to ask the manager that." 

"Could I speak to him?" 

"Sure, I'll just go get him." the bartender said and moved through a door into a back room. Moments later he reappeared with a middle aged man in a business suit. The bartender went back to serving drinks while the Manager came around the bar and greeted Peter. 

"I understand you'd like to ask our Priss some questions?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I'm looking for these two women," he handed him the pictures, "and your bartender said they were friends with her." 

The manager looked at the pictures and said "Oh my. Yes they are Priss' friends." 

"Do you know them?" 

The manager nodded. "A bit. That's Nene and this is Linna. I don't know their last names unfortunately." 

Peter took out a notepad and pen and made a show of jotting that down. 

"May I ask what this is concerning?" the manager said. 

Peter shrugged. "Divorce case. Some woman's paying me to track down dirt on her soon to be ex-husband. She reckons he's been fooling around, so I want to find these two and ask 'em a few questions about him." he said in a bored tone, as if he had done this a hundred times before. 

"Ah." the manager said. "Well, for what it's worth, they've been here a few times, but I've never seen them with any men before. They just come here with each other." 

Peter nodded as he wrote. "Okay, and can you tell me anything more about them? Family names or such?" 

"Sorry, I don't know their family names, but I do know young Nene works for the AD Police." 

"Really?" Peter was genuinely surprised. 

"Yeah, I think she said she works in the information centre or such, I know she works on a computer all day." 

"And what about the other one, Linna?" 

"I don't know where she works, but I think she said it was a junior sales position with some company. I don't remember which one, I'm sorry. Priss would probably know." 

"May I speak to her?" Peter asked. 

"If you'll just wait here, I'll go and ask her." the Manager said and was about to leave when Peter's phone rang. 

He pulled it from his pocket and answered. "Yeah?" 

Johnson was on the other end. "Pete, a call just came in for you from a Michael Dewhurst in Canberra. He wants you to call him urgently." 

To say Peter was surprised was an understatement. From the way he had blown up at his boss earlier, he had half expected Dewhurst would never talk to him again. "All right, I'm on my way." He hung up, then turned to the Manager who had waited patiently. "Sorry, but something's come up and I have to leave now. Thank you for your help." Peter said and started to leave. 

"Would you like me to tell Priss you want to speak with her?" the manager said. 

Peter thought for a moment. "Ah, no, thank you. I'll catch up with her tomorrow." he said, then left before the Manager could get another word in. 

*** 

Peter entered the Security Centre, where Johnson directed him into his private office. Peter sat behind Johnson's desk and dialed Dewhursts number into the videophone. Dewhurst picked up and Johnson was surprised to see he was still at work at this late hour. 

"Pete." Dewhurst said. 

"Evening, sir. You called?" 

"Yes. Your team's being recalled." 

Peter sat speechless for a moment, unsure as to whether he had heard his boss correctly. "Recalled? How come?" 

"That's just the order from above. Your team of Surveillance Officers will cease all participation in this investigation and return to Australia tomorrow. The Embassy should have already received your tickets and travel arrangements. You will remain in Japan and continue your investigation." 

"You've got to be kidding. How the hell am I supposed to investigate jack shit without any backup?" Peter felt like screaming but managed to keep his voice to a reasonable level this time. 

"Don't even try to take it out on me again." Dewhurst said coldly. "This came from way above. I had nothing to do with it." 

"Would this be the same 'above' that blocked my request for a larger team?" Peter asked, his voice thick with menace. 

"I don't like what you're insinuating." Dewhurst replied. "As far as I know, there is no plot to shut down this investigation. The resource that were placed at your disposal are needed elsewhere; end of discussion. Are we clear on this?" 

"Yes, sir." Peter forced himself to say, then switched off. He suddenly felt the urge to shoot somebody somewhere that would affect a very slow and painful death. He'd been betrayed, or so he perceived it. Despite what Dewhurst said, there was definitely someone attempting to derail his investigation. Twice now he had been stopped when he was on the verge of making a major breakthrough. Somebody did not want him to complete his report on the Knight Sabers, and that someone wielded considerable influence. 

As he sat there, staring at the blank screen, his anger rose and boiled violently. The urge to lash out and break something became almost overpowering as pressure built inside him. As if in anticipation, his already abused hand began to throb, cutting through the fury that clouded his mind. With a degree of will power that later surprised him when he reflected back on this moment, he regained control of his anger and pushed it back down until it turned from an intensity like a volcano about to erupt to a cold, hard ball in the centre of his being. With a sudden clarity of thought, he knew he now had to find whoever it was that held this grudge against him and why. 

But first, he had an investigation to complete. He stood and re-entered the Security Centre. "Johnson?" he said. The Security Chief looked up from a computer screen upon hearing his name. "The ADP's database we tried to hack last night, did that include personnel files?" 

Johnson shook his head. "No, those were all criminal and case related. Why?" 

Peter moved close to Johnson and lowered his voice so only he could hear. "Because one of the Knight Sabers is a cop." 

The expression of surprise on Johnson's face would have done the Warner Bros. best animators proud if they had been able to capture it. "A cop? Are you serious?" 

"The manager at that club identified the blonde one as a Nene who works in the ADP's dispatch centre." 

"Talk about sleeping with the enemy! Hacking the ADP's personnel files shouldn't be that hard." 

Peter nodded. "Could you do that for me. I have to gather my team together and give them some bad news." 

"Important?" Johnson. Peter just nodded, then turned and left the Security Centre. 

*** 

Priss had just finished changing after the show when there was a knock at the door. "Hey Priss, can I come in?" the Manager called. 

"Yeah." Priss said as she grabbed her boots and pulled them on. The door opened and the manager stepped into her dressing room. 

"Great show tonight." he said. "You really drew in a crowd." 

Priss stood and grabbed her jacket. "Thanks. You got my money?" 

"I left it with Maxon." he said. 

Priss made a disgusted sound at the prospect of having to wring her money out of the bands overly large drummer and pushed past the Manager. 

"Oh, by the way there was a guy looking for you earlier." 

Priss stopped and turned to look at him. "What guy?" 

"A private detective. Said he was after those two friends of yours, Nene and Linna. Something about digging up some dirt in some divorce case." 

"Where is he now?" 

"Something came up and he had to leave just after you finished on stage. Said he'd catch up with you tomorrow." 

"Did he ask you any questions about me or my friends?" 

The Manager nodded his head. "Yeah, he showed me their pictures and asked if I knew them." 

"And what did you tell him?" 

The Manager shrugged. "What I know. Their names and that they were your friends. Said he'd take it up with you tomorrow." 

Priss looked at him for a moment, her face set in a perfect mask of neutrality that didn't even hint at the disgust she held for this man right not. She turned and walked away, heading for the back door to the alley where she always parked her bike. 

Once outside, she put her helmet on, and started her bike. She glanced around to make sure nobody was close by, then took out her phone and dialed Sylia. 

"Yes Priss?" Sylia asked on picking up. "I hope this is important." 

"It is. Some private dick was around here tonight asking to see me and flashing pictures of Nene and Linna around." 

"What?" Sylia exploded. "They have pictures of us? Do they know our names as well?" 

"They do now. My idiot manager told him Nene and Linna's names." 

Sylia was silent a moment as she composed herself, then quietly said "This whole situation is really starting to get on my nerves. I'll call Nene and Linna and let them know what's happened. I'll also tell them to stay at home and call in sick tomorrow." 

"Do you want me to come 'round?" Priss asked. 

"No. If they tracked you to Hot Legs, they may be following you. Just head home and act normally." 

Priss smiled cockily. "If they are following me, they're going to have a hard time keeping up." 

"I'll call you tomorrow with more instructions." Sylia said and hung up. Priss put her phone away, jumped on her bike then tore out of the alley. 

END OF PART ONE


	2. Part Two

Part Two 

Three quarters of an hour later, Peter returned to the Embassy from his hotel room where he had gathered his team and informed them of Canberra's decision. That had taken just a few minutes. The rest of the time he had spent convincing them they should follow orders and return to Australia the next day, rather than stay and risk getting fired. 

When he entered the Security Centre, Johnson waved him over to a computer. "Good news for a change." he said. 

"About bloody time." Peter said as he dropped himself into a chair next to Johnson. Johnson pressed a key and a personnel file stolen from the ADP's Personnel Department appeared on screen. The file photo was that of a young woman in her late teens with short blonde hair. Peter immediately recognized her as the blonde Knight Saber. He looked at her name. Nene Romanova. "Mate, this is a godsend! We've got everything; name, address, work history, family history, right down to her blood type and next of kin!" He looked at Johnson, who was smiling coyly to himself. "There's more isn't there." Peter asked. 

Johnson said nothing, instead pressing another key. A second file appeared on screen, this one a witness statement from a rogue boomer incident several weeks ago. "We managed to crack the password on the ADP's case file database and we found this." 

Peter quickly scanned the statement, and stopped when he came to the witness' name. Linna Yamazaki. He played the accompanying squad car footage and stopped it when a young woman with brown hair appeared on screen. "That's her. That's the third Knight Saber." Peter looked at Johnson. "Mate, do I ever owe you a beer." 

Johnson grinned. "I'd say you owe me a couple." 

Peter grinned back, and printed out all the relevant information on the last two Knight Sabers. "I'll check 'em out in the morning. By the way, how'd you crack the password?" 

Johnson smiled smugly. "Would you believe the system designer programmed in a backdoor so he could get into the system if anything went wrong? And would you believe the password he chose was 'backdoor'?" 

Peter shook his head, then laughed out loud. "God bless the ADP's shit poor security!" 

*** 

Johnson stepped off his usual morning bus and walked the last two blocks to the Embassy to start another work day. Reaching the end of the street, he turned left around the corner and almost collided head on with Peter. So startled by the unexpected near impact was Johnson that he dropped his briefcase on the footpath. 

"Oh, Pete. It's you." he said, regaining his composure. 

Peter waved good morning as he bent over, hands on his knees, and caught his breath. 

"Out for a morning run?" Johnson asked as he retrieved his briefcase. 

Peter nodded. "Yeah." He said between breaths. 

"How far have you run so far?" 

Peter stood up, breath in his lungs now, but still breathing heavily. "About eight kays now. Just getting in are you?" he asked as they turned and started walking back to the Embassy. 

"Yeah. Normal morning routine so far. You had breakfast yet?" 

Peter shook his head. "Normally eat after I work out, otherwise I'll end up feeling queasy." 

Johnson understood and nodded. "Why don't cut it short today and join me. I usually eat after I get to work." 

"Sounds good." Peter said. 

"What have you got planned for today?" 

"Nothing much. Just recon our three lovely young girls today. Then see my team off at the airport." 

They reached the Embassy's main doors and entered. Nodding curtly to the guards on duty at the front desk, they entered the secure elevator and rode it up to the ninth floor where the Security Centre was located. They stepped of the elevator and walked down the short corridor to the Security Centre. 

Johnson led Peter into his office where he opened a wall cabinet to reveal a small fridge and a microwave. Taking a couple of croissant's from the fridge he popped them in the microwave for a few minutes. 

When done he passed one to Peter, along with butter and a choice of either raspberry or strawberry jam. Peter chose the strawberry. 

When they were happily munching on their breakfast, Johnson finally broke the silence. "What are you going to do now?" 

Peter considered the question for a moment. "I'm going to finish this investigation, and I'm going to do it within the next few days." 

Johnson almost choked on his food. "Just how are you planning on doing that? You've got no team." 

Peter smiled coyly. "I'll find a way." The smile vanished and he became deadly serious. "Somebody's out to get me and derail this investigation. They've already pulled the plug on my team. Now I've got to finish this before mine gets pulled as well." 

"And just how do plan to do that?" 

The smile reappeared. "Like I said, I'll find a way." 

"I'm sure you will." Johnson said as he took another bite. 

"What I don't get is how they know what I'm doing." Peter said. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Both times I've had my chain yanked, it's been just when we've made a breakthrough. The first came just after we were able to positively associate Stingray with the Knight Sabers. That one I can understand cause I was presenting regular reports and my request for additional manpower was made in writing and went through Upham. Even though he didn't approve, it was irrelevant so long as he passed it on, which he did. 

"After my request was turned down, I stopped making regular reports about what we were doing and instead made up some BS about monitoring Kirkland as our only solid lead. Now, just as we identify everyone in the organisation, my team gets recalled. Somehow, whoever's behind this knows what it is I'm really doing." 

Johnson's eyes narrowed. "You don't mean...." 

Peter nodded. "Yeah. There's a leak somewhere close by." 

"Any idea who?" 

Peter shook his head. "As far as I know, it could be anyone. Well, anyone except Upham. Hell! It could even be you." 

"And what if it is me?" Johnson said. 

Now it was Peter's eyes that narrowed. "Let's just say I won't be too happy." 

Johnson smirked. "Well be happy, cause it's not me." 

"Really?" Peter asked, not convinced. 

"Believe me, I've got just as much riding on this as you. Why do you think I've been so keen to help you?" 

"Well it couldn't have just been out of the kindness of your heart." Peter said cynically. 

Johnson stood and started pacing behind his desk. "You think I like baby sitting an Embassy in some country where I have trouble understanding what's being said on TV? I want to get home and take one of the important positions, like head of the Prime Ministers security, or Parliament House or something, and helping an intelligence investigation into a possible threat to National Security to the best of my ability and then some will look damn good when it comes my turn." 

Peter was silent as he studied Johnson, attempting to ascertain whether he told the truth. Finally, after a long moment, he spoke. "I believe you. But I also still believe there's a leak." 

Johnson sat. "I'm not denying there is. I'm just saying that it's not me." 

Peter looked out the office window into the Security Centre, where the shift change was taking place. "Whoever it is, they must have access to the Security Centre, as that's where I've been running this op from." 

"I don't like the idea that one of my men could be spying on you." 

Peter turned back to face Johnson. "As much as I'd like to smoke the little rat out, I've got to concentrate on my investigation. Do you mind if I move into your office? I just want to get away from prying eyes." 

"No, I don't mind. You'll have to use your own computer though, I've got classified contingency plans on mine which you aren't authorized to see." 

"Thanks." Peter stood and left. 

*** 

Matt and the rest of the Surveillance Officers boarded their plane just before twelve, and by then Peter had already driven past Priss, Nene's and Linna's homes and tracked Linna to her workplace at Hugh Geit. After eating a quick lunch from the Embassy's cafeteria, Peter now sat in Johnson's office pouring over plans of Stingray's building. Somehow he had to find out what was on the floors below ground, unfortunately, since Stingray had discovered those two bugs, she had stepped up security till there was no chance Peter could sneak in and out again, although he had spent hours searching for a way. Soon however he had come to the conclusion that he didn't have enough information on the building to pin down any weak spots he could exploit. 

Without any discreet way to go about it, Peter decided to throw caution, and Standard Operating Procedures, to the wind and force his way in. To that end he was looking for ways to delay the Knight Sabers response long enough for him to find what he wanted and make his escape, and as he called up the buildings wiring schematics, he found it. 

*** 

Peter parked one of the hire cars across the street from Stingray's building. It was three in the morning and the lack of traffic at this hour made Tokyo seem like a very different city. Peter checked his watch one last time, then pulled his balaclava over his head, grabbed his combat vest and exited the car. Pausing one last time to check the street for any witnesses, he dashed across the road and up the stairs to the shopping concourse where the Silky Doll was located. Pressing himself against the wall, away from the glass front of the shop, Peter pulled a small remote from his vest and, on the count of three, pushed the button. In the alley behind the building, a small box attached to the wall at a specific spot began to hum, a low electronic noise that quickly turned into a high pitched whine and suddenly lights all over the building died as the main power distribution point, where the electricity entered the building from the outside, was shorted out by a powerful electromagnetic pulse. 

As soon as the lights went out, Peter pushed open the now inactive door to the shop and made a mad dash to the secret elevator. As expected, within seconds of the main power being cut off, emergency power kicked in and the lights came back on as a loud klaxon began wailing. The secret door in the change room opened as soon he stepped in and he sprinted into the waiting elevator where he jabbed the down button. Now, nervously, he waited for the elevator to finish it's descent. 

*** 

Sylia shot up in bed as a loud wailing sound startled her from her sleep. Opening her eyes, she reeled and immediately shut them again as they were assaulted by a bright light. Quickly her senses returned to her and, with a start, she realized the intruder alarm was sounding and that the emergency lighting was on. Leaping out of bed, she grabbed her bathrobe off the foot of it and madly tried to pull it on as she ran for the elevator down to the pit. 

As she entered the elevator, Henderson appeared, still dressed in his pajamas, and carrying a loaded shotgun. "Looks like we're in for some night time entertainment, Milady." he said mildly, as if he were commenting on the weather. 

Sylia stabbed the down button. She forced herself to calm down as the elevator continued downward. 

*** 

The doors opened and Peter stepped out into a large, well lit room, resembling nothing less than a hitech laboratory. Quickly glancing around the room, he spotted another elevator, which was quickly descending. Realizing that it was most likely Stingray onboard, Peter didn't waste another second. He sprinted for the doors and slapped another EMP mine over the control panel. Activating immediately, the EMP mine shorted out the doors circuitry, buying Peter valuable time. 

*** 

The elevator reached the pit and Sylia tensed as Henderson cocked the shotgun and held it at the ready. They waited, yet the doors didn't open. Sylia pressed the button, but still they remained shut. 

"The doors won't open." she said as she gripped them and attempted to force them open. Henderson safed the shotgun and put it down, then lent his strength. 

*** 

Peter stepped off the flight of stairs he had found and onto what he could only describe as a bridge or control room overlooking the main room. Out the windows he could see some sort of launcher set against the far wall and upon a raised dais. Putting his curiosity aside, Peter sat himself in the only seat and inserted a disk into the computer. Working quickly he installed a program, then sat back and waited. In the bowels of the computer, the recently installed worm scanned the contents of all the hard drives it found. Detecting several layers of protection on the system, it defaulted to its fall back programming. It scanned the hard drives again, working in a specific and methodical fashion, noting what data was stored on them, and writing what it found into a simple text file. When it finished several minutes later, it transmitted its 'map' of the hard drives to a server in Libya, which then forwarded it on to another server in Poland, from where it travelled a convoluted path through the internet, circling the globe hundreds of times in different directions, before arriving at its destination, a computer that sat quietly by itself in a warehouse owned by a small shipping company that had been set up as a front for certain JIO operations. From that computer it was automatically emailed to an anonymous online account which Peter had set up just a few hours ago, and which he never intended to use again. 

Once the worm had successfully executed its programming, it automatically deleted itself, wiping all evidence of its existence from the Knight Sabers computers. Peter took a moment to ensure there was no trace of it left in the computer, then turned and fled from the bridge, retrieving his disk on the way. 

Taking the stairs back down to the main room, he crossed back to the elevator from the Silky Doll. As he did, he noticed the doors to the other elevator slowly begin to open as Stingray forced her way out. Peter stepped into the elevator and pressed the up button as Stingray gave a final shove and opened the doors fully. As the doors to his elevator closed, Peter saw Sylia run towards him, while Henderson aimed a high powered shot gun. Sylia leaped at him, but the doors shut and Peter heard the dull thump as she slammed into them. 

Peter let out a sigh of relief as the elevator began its journey upwards. 

*** 

Sylia picked herself up off the floor and swore as the black clad intruder made his get away. Henderson was by her side in a moment, stretching out his hand to help her. Sylia brushed him aside and ran for the bridge. She had to activate the defences and stop that man from escaping. 

*** 

Peter stopped the elevator at the garage and stepped off. Quickly orientating himself, he sprinted towards the ramp that led up to street level. As he did, he passed the large purple and white truck he had seen the Knight Sabers use several weeks ago. 

He arrived at the heavy roller door, but stopped and cursed his ill fortune. There was no lock or control panel on this side either. Peter pulled out his goggles and used them to locate the motor that opened the door, up above and hidden behind an access panel. Placing the electronic lock interrogator over the access panel, he used it to force open the roller door. 

*** 

"He's trying to open to garage door!" Sylia said as she brought the buildings defences online. 

"How is he doing that? There's no control panel there to open it from." Henderson said. 

"I don't know, but I'm going to try and shut it." 

*** 

With the door only half a foot open, the motors computer received a command to shut the door again whilst it was still receiving commands to open the door. Unable to process both conflicting orders at the same time, the computer crashed and the roller door stopped moving. Peter swore and pounded his fist against a wall. Grabbing the interrogator he lay down on his stomach and tried to slide underneath, but found he was unable to. Repressing a sudden panic attack at the thought of being trapped in the building, Peter sucked in his gut, pressed himself as flat as possible and forced himself underneath the door. 

With it digging painfully into his body, Peter pushed one side through, but found his head wouldn't pass through the gap easily. Sucking in a deep breath and steeling himself, he gritted his teeth and pushed. Slowly, and with an unbearable pressure on his skull he pushed his head through. At first the fabric of the balaclava protected his face, but when he pushed his ears through, he felt and heard the material begin to rip and tear. Suddenly a burning pain shot through his ear and the side of his face as the balaclava tore and his skin was scrapped against the hard concrete. Ignoring the pain, he continued to push until his head finally jerked free. With most of his body already through, Peter quickly pulled the rest of himself free and stood up. He touched his fingers to his abused ear, and they came away covered in blood. 

Shrugging off the pain, he ran out of the alley and down the street to where he had parked the other hire car earlier that day. Jumping in, he started the car and pulled away from the curb. Turning down the first side street he came across, he set about a complex series of turns designed to spot any tail he might have. Satisfied he was alone, he turned back onto the main roads and headed back to the Embassy via a circular route through most of Tokyo. 

*** 

"Damn it!" Sylia said and pounded the console as they watched intruder make his get away on a video monitor. 

"What's done is done, Milady. No use crying over spilt milk." Henderson said reassuringly. 

Sylia straightened up. "You're right Henderson, as usual." 

"One of the benefits of my many years of experience Milady. At least he didn't get away scot-free." Henderson said, displaying his wry sense of humour and pointing out the intruders bloody ear. 

Sylia smiled. "I guess we should look around and see what he was after." she said and sat down at the computer. 

"He wasn't carrying anything when he got away. Do you think we interrupted him before he could find what it was he was looking for?" 

"I hope so." she said as she went through her computers files. "Damn." she said, stopping on a certain file. "He accessed the computer." she taped a few keys. "Unfortunately he's wiped all trace of what he did from the computers logs. Better put on some coffee Henderson, this is going to take a while." 

"As you wish, Milady." Henderson turned to leave, then a thought occurred to him and he stopped. "Would you like me to call Mistress Nene for you Milady?" 

"Why, yes. Thank you Henderson, I could use her help on this." 

*** 

Peter walked into the Security Centre, clutching a bandage to his injured ear. 

"God! What happened to you?" Johnson asked when he saw Peter's worse for wear state. 

"Literally stuck between a rock and a hard place." Peter said as he sat in front of a free computer and logged onto his online email account. He visibly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the file had made it. With a press of a button, he forwarded it onto a friend he knew he could trust back at JIO. 

"I take it you got what you wanted?" Johnson asked. 

Peter nodded. "It'll take a couple of hours for the computer to crunch through all that information and recreate what was on Stingray's hard drives." he yawned. "In the meantime, I think I'll go get myself cleaned up and then get some coffee. 

"In the meantime, why don't you go down to the First Aid station and have them patch your ear up, then get some sleep." 

Suddenly feeling very tired at the mere mention of sleep, Peter said "Like I said, I'll go get myself cleaned up then get some sleep." he deleted the email from his account then wondered off to find the First Aid Station. 

*** 

Nene entered the bridge, her hair unkempt and her clothes in disarray as if she had dressed while still asleep, which she most likely had. She yawned and rubbed sleep from her eyes. "Sylia, what's the big emergency that you had to get me up in the middle of the night for? I have to go to work tomorrow." 

"It's early morning actually." Sylia said, then filled her in on the events of a few hours ago. 

"Really, he was accessing the computers?" Nene asked, taking a seat next to Sylia. 

"That's right. Unfortunately he wiped all records of his activities from the logs. I can't find out a thing about what he was doing." 

"Well, let's just see about that." Nene said confidently as she pushed Sylia aside and set to work on the computer. 

Sylia was initially about to protest being shoved aside, but decided against it as she watched Nene dive into the bowels of the system, searching for even the smallest clue. "I'm going to go have breakfast and take a shower." she said. "I'll have Henderson bring something down for you, along with some coffee." 

"Coffee's good." Nene muttered as she worked. 

*** 

Peter awoke in his hotel room shortly after midday. After showering and ordering something light to eat from room service, he left the hotel and made his way back to the Embassy where he went straight to his computer in Johnson's office. As expected, his friend at the JIO had managed to recreate the contents of the Knight Sabers hard drives and now made it available to him to peruse. Peter fired off a quick thank you email along with a promise of several beers when he returned and set about scouring the gigabytes of data available. 

After several hours of searching, Peter came across what appeared to be an old diary or journal Stingray had kept. The last entry was made over a year ago, and Peter surmised she must have forgotten about it. He began reading and quickly realized it had been made to record the early days of the Knight Sabers. From it, he soon learned who the fourth Knight Saber was, Sylia Stingray herself. Apparently, nowadays, she only went into combat in exceptional circumstances. He read about the original Knight Sabers, how they died in action and of Sylia's reaction to their deaths, and then about the recruitment of Priss and Nene. 

By the time he read the last entry, it was dark outside, and Peter now felt he understood who the Knight Sabers were and what they were about. They weren't anti-boomer terrorists as the media made them out to be and what the politicians in Canberra feared, they didn't fight for money or fame or glory, or out of any sense of vengeance. They fought to protect the people of Tokyo from the rouge boomers Genom Corporation kept insisting didn't exist. Indeed, from Stingray's writings, he surmised that it was Genom that was ultimately responsible for rouge boomers by ignoring their responsibility to ensure their product was safe and reliable and not a threat to the public. But as a large corporation, Genom had the money and the resources to ensure it would never be held accountable by the authorities, and so it fell to Sylia Stingray, daughter of the man who had invented boomers, to fight her fathers creations in order to protect the people the politicians had failed. 

Peter shut down his computer and stood up. He walked to the windows that overlooked the nearby park and watched the city of Tokyo close down for the night. All through his investigation, he had viewed the Knight Sabers as the enemy, a threat to National Security that had to be stopped. Now he knew it wasn't the Knight Sabers that was the threat, it was Genom. If Genom had the conscience to release a defective product on the market, with deadly results and then deny it, there would be no limit as to what actions they would take to ensure their monopoly on the boomer market. 

He couldn't help but feel somewhat dirty about what he had put Stingray and her friends through these last few weeks. 

*** 

"I think I've got it Sylia." Nene said, still hard at work in the Bridge. She had called in sick and had spent the entire day picking the system apart bit by bit, file by file, and examining each and every one of them. 

"What?" Sylia asked, looking over Nene's shoulder. 

"I haven't been able to determine what it was this intruder did to the computer, but just before he left, the firewall recorded a connection to a server in Libya." 

"Libya?" Sylia repeated in surprise. 

Nene nodded. "I hacked the server and found that an exceptionally large file was routed through it from our computers to another server in Poland. So I set a worm of my own creation out after it." 

"What sort of worm?" 

"It sort of acts like a sniffer dog in that it will actively chase down whatever file I send it after. This is the first real chance I've had to test it, and I must say it's working better than I could have hoped. It's already traced the file through thousands of servers and proxy's and circumnavigated the globe more times than an airline pilot." 

"Where's it heading?" 

"We'll know in a minute Sylia." Nene said and they both set about waiting for the worm to finish its pursuit. 

After circling the globe another dozen times, it came to rest on a computer in Australia. "I knew it." Sylia muttered. "Is the file still there?" 

Nene quickly entered a few commands into the computer. "Nope. It was emailed to one of those free online accounts. I'm hacking into it now." After a few more seconds she succeeded. "Hmm. Looks like whoever received it has already dumped the evidence." she said after finding nothing in the account. 

"Any idea what was in that file?" 

"Not really. It was a large text file, several megabytes in size, and there's nothing like that in your system." 

"There's no way you can recreate the file?" 

Nene shook her head. "Whatever he did to the computer totally removed all traces of itself and whatever he did. There isn't even a residual footprint on the hard drive." 

"So the only way we're going to know what he did is if we find this guy and make him talk." 

"And we know just where to find him, don't we?" Nene said with relish. Sylia nodded. 

*** 

Peter sat in the conference room trying to type the draft of his report, but really thinking back over the last few weeks and all that he had seen and experienced. Rampaging boomers, young women in powered suits risking life and limb to stop them, bureaucratic incompetence and corruption restricting a well intentioned police force and the greed of a corporation behind all the troubles. It was enough to make one wonder if there was any hope for humanity, whether the basic human values of trust and kindness still existed. But they did exist, and they were embodied in the four women who formed the Knight Sabers. That they should be hunted and forced into the shadows was a horrendous crime in itself. He wondered how they coped with the secrecy and the stress of it all. 

Whilst most of them weren't much older than he was when he joined the army and entered the dangerous world of covert ops, he had had friends and team mates, psychologists and his government there to tell him that the things he was doing were right and not to be ashamed of, and that the only people that got hurt were the enemy. All these women had was each other. 

A loud crash in a distant part of the building brought him out of his reverie, quickly followed by a loud alarm. He stuck his head out the open door and saw Johnson leading half a dozen security personnel down the hall towards him, with several other Embassy staffers heading the other way. 

"What's going on?" he asked. 

"Cleaning boomer downstairs has gone rogue." Johnson said matter-of-factly as he swept by. Peter followed and fell into step beside him. 

"So what do we do?" 

"We're evacuating the building. We're on our way to secure the Ambassador and escort him out, then we'll try to contain the boomer until help arrives." 

"What do you want me doing?" Peter asked as they approached the door to the Ambassadors office. 

"We could use your help containing the boomer." Johnson said, unable to stop a note of desperation entering his voice. 

Peter nodded and absently patted his gun. They arrived at the door to the Ambassador's office. The security systems recognised Johnson and immediately let them through. They passed through outer office and into the Ambassadors office proper. 

The Ambassador was already on his feet and looking worried. Another half dozen security personnel surrounded him with their guns drawn. 

"Mr Ambassador, we have a situation. You have to leave the building." Johnson said. "We'll escort you to your helicopter." 

"What in the hell is going on?" the Ambassador demanded. 

"A boomer has gone rogue and is rampaging downstairs. We're evacuating the Embassy." Johnson said, emphasising the danger. 

The Ambassadors face tightened. "You mean it's true? Those things actually go rogue?" 

"Yes sir, and you are in danger if you stay here. You have to let us escort you to your helicopter now, sir." 

"Very well." the Ambassador said, stepping out from behind his desk. "Lead the way." 

The security men formed a tight circle around the Ambassador, every man with a gun drawn and intently watching their field of view. Peter found himself on the outside of the circle and decided to do his bit in protecting the Ambassador. He pulled his gun, cocked it and flipped the safety off, then watched the space in front of him for any signs of danger. 

Johnson took the lead, escorting the Ambassador out of the office and towards the nearest stairs to the roof. They got about halfway when all the security personnel received a message through their ear pieces. Johnson listened to it and went slightly pale. He stopped and reversed their direction. 

"Sir." He said to the Ambassador. "Change in plans. The boomers gotten into the stairwell and is on its way up here. We're going to go down to the parking garage via the back stairs and get you out in your limo." 

"Are the police on their way?" the Ambassador asked as he was bustled in the other direction by the security men. 

"Yes sir. The ADP has been informed and will be here in minutes. However, sir, they are limited in their capability. I'm afraid that you will have to contact Canberra and request assistance from the Japanese military." Johnson said as they turned a corner. Ahead of them, at the end of the corridor were the back stairs that would take them to the parking garage. 

"Are you serious?" the Ambassador asked, somewhat alarmed. 

"Very, sir." 

A loud crash from the direction of the front stairs told them the boomer was now on the same floor as them. "Double time it!" Johnson yelled and all the security men broke into a run. A sound like an electronic howl or roar sounded behind them, and Peter looked back to see a boomer, horribly swollen and misshapen come dashing around the corner and slam into the wall. 

Training took over and Peter dropped to one knee, lined up a shot and fired. Shots next to him told him that several of the security men had done the same. Peter watched as dents appeared in the boomers metal skin, but the bullets ricocheted of it harmlessly. The boomer roared again, turned and started charging down the hallway. Peter fired another shot, which just bounced off like the first. 

The boomer was only metres away now and would be on top of them in any moment. Peter reached out and grabbed the collar of the man next to him, then jumped to the side, pulling both of them out of the way of the rampaging machine. 

Peter watched as the boomer sailed past them and crashed into the door to the stairs, knocking over one man who had made his stand in the doorway. The man flew backwards and Peter watched him disappear down the stairwell. Peter couldn't see the Ambassador, Johnson or the contingent of security, and assumed they'd made it down the stairs already. That left Peter and three other security officers to face the boomer alone. 

The boomer picked itself up and tried to fit through the door, but found it's mutated bulk was too large. With a howl, it gave up and turned to face the four humans still within reach. Peter and the security officers picked themselves up off the ground, one of the officers firing another shot at the boomer as they did. The boomer howled and tried to make a grab at the officer, but the man ducked under its grasp. 

Peter grabbed the man next to him and ducked through a door. They found themselves in a large office area filled with cubicles and another door on the opposite side. Silently agreeing on a course of action, they broke into a sprint and heard a loud crumbling sound behind them. Peter glanced backwards and saw the boomer had forced its way through wall like it was paper and had paused to locate them. Several cracks sounded from the corridor, and Peter guessed the other security officers were trying to draw its attention away from them. 

It didn't work. The boomer ignored the bullets, sighted them and took off after them, charging like a wounded bull. Peter and the Security Officer reached the door and passed through it. The boomer followed, its momentum carrying it through the office wall and into the much more solid corridor wall. With the boomer momentarily distracted, Peter and the Security Officer stopped to decide what to do next. 

"The front stairs!" Peter cried and took off down the corridor. Behind them they heard the boomer pick itself up and resume it's pursuit. They reached the front stairs and the Security Officer began to run down them, but Peter caught his shirt and hauled him. "No, wait! It came up those stairs, it can go back down. The back stairs!" he said and took off in that direction. They neared the corner where the boomer had first smashed into the wall and came across the other two Security Officers running toward them. Peter shouted and indicated they should turn around, and a loud crash behind them as the boomer entered the corridor convinced them. 

They ran, knowing full well that the boomer was faster, but their fear and adrenaline drove them at speeds they hadn't thought possible. They reached the stairs just as the boomer was upon them, but once again the doorway held against its bulk. They mounted the stairs, and in their rush one of the Security Officers stumbled and fell, knocking over the rest of them. Peter found himself sprawled on the landing at the foot of the stairs, on top of one officer and two more on top of him. 

They picked themselves up and took off down the stairs again, this time much more carefully. They reached the next floor down and left the stairwell. Above them they heard the boomer thrashing about. They quickly searched the floor and found it empty. Mounting the stairs again, they headed downwards, searching each floor for any loiterers as they went. 

Reaching the ninth floor, Peter headed straight for the Security Centre. In there he found Johnson directing a room which, moments before had been peaceful but which now resembled the War Room of a country at war. 

Johnson turned at Peter's entrance and looked relieved to see him. "Thank God you're okay." he said. 

"Yeah. So are your guys." Peter agreed. "What's the situation?" 

"The thing's left the top floor and is now two floors down. We've physically sealed off both front and back stairways and the elevator shafts. Every floor above us is completely sealed off and the Embassy is under total lock down. Nothing gets out and nothing comes in without my permission." 

"How soon till the ADP get here?" 

"Half an hour." 

Peter wasn't surprised at the delay. "So much for a rapid reaction force. What's the plan?" 

"We keep it contained and stop it from doing too much damage." Johnson said as he crossed to a large, armoured door. Peter followed him. Johnson opened the door and they went through. Inside Peter found a large armoury filled with enough weapons to equip a battalion of troops. Johnson grabbed a large assault rifle and checked it, then put it aside and picked up another larger gun and shoved it into Peter's hands. 

Peter looked at the size of the gun thrust at him. "Jesus Christ! Why the hell have you guys got something this big?" 

"In case we're attacked." Johnson said matter-of-factly. 

"By a whale?" Peter asked. 

"We planned for a terrorist incident. An attack by rogue boomers was just one scenario. We concluded that the AD Police can't cope with an all out boomer assault, so we have to be able to successfully defend ourselves until Canberra could make a proper request to the Japanese government to send in the military." Johnson said as he loaded his gun and checked it. 

"That still doesn't explain why I'm carrying a gun big enough to turn an elephant into chutney." Peter said as he loaded his weapon. 

"Trust me, you'll be glad you've got it." Johnson said, then grabbed his rifle and left the room. Peter stayed a minute, examining his new gun. It looked to him like it had been ripped directly from a jet fighter and been modified to be operated by hand. As he studied the weapon, locating all the switches and triggers, another Security Officer entered and opened a very sturdy looking locker, then started pulling out several boxes of ammunition and passed one of the correct gauge to Peter. He loaded the weapon and hefted it. He was glad he wouldn't have to carry such a heavy gun any further than a few floors. Whilst undoubtedly highly effective in combat, its size and weight made it impractical unless it was mounted on some sort of vehicle. 

Peter left the armoury and found Johnson briefing several teams of Security Officers. Peter joined and listened to Johnson's plan to contain the boomer on the eleventh floor and hold it there till the ADP or the military arrived. 

Once fully briefed, the teams filed out of the Security Centre and headed to their positions. Johnson stood over a tactical holographic map of the building like a general and directed his troops. "I sure do wish we had the Knight Sabers right here, right now." he commented to Peter. 

In the heat of the moment, Peter had forgotten about them, and realized they were most likely mobilizing by now. "How much longer till the ADP get here?" Peter said. 

Johnson checked his watch. "Twenty minutes." 

"The Knight Sabers are going to get here before then." 

Johnson looked at Peter as he suddenly realized the same thing. "They won't even be able to get close. The air defences are totally automated." 

"Shut them off." Peter urged. 

"I can't. SOP. If I turn them off during a crises, a lot of questions are going to be asked." 

A loud crashing sound echoed from above and a shudder ran through the building. 

"If you don't turn them off, there might not be any Embassy by the time the ADP get here!" 

Johnson said nothing, instead he stared at map of the building, as if trying to divine a solution to all problems from it. 

"It's your call." Peter said. 

*** 

"Do we really want to save their asses?" Priss asked as she, Linna and Nene stood atop a building overlooking the Australian Embassy. 

"That boomers really making a mess of things in there, and the ADP's still a quater of an hour away." Nene said. 

"Besides," Sylia said over the radio. "This is our chance to get some intel on what they're up to." 

"But what if it's a trap." Priss objected. 

"I'm sure you three can handle it." Sylia said. 

"Regardless," Linna interjected. "we won't even be able to get close while their air defences are up." 

"Ah, that's no longer a problem." Nene said. "Their air defences just shut down." 

"That was rather convenient." Priss said cynically. 

"Never mind!" Sylia said sternly. "If you don't move now, you won't make it out before the ADP get there." 

"You're being a fool, Sylia." Priss said. 

There was a momentary silence over the radio, then Sylia said calmly. "Linna? Nene?" 

"Well, I don't know about you Priss," Linna said, "but I can't just stand around while there are people trapped in there with a mad boomer." she said, then fired her thrusters and leapt towards the Embassy. 

"I'm with you Linna!" Nene called after her as she followed. Priss watched them go. 

"Priss, if you don't want to do this, then you can return to base and let Linna and Nene handle it. And forget about getting paid for this one." 

Priss fumed, but she had no choice, she needed the money. "You really are a bitch." she said and rocketed after the other two. 

*** 

Peter and Johnson waited in the corridor outside the rear stairwell. Past them, in the main office area of the Embassy, the boomer continued its rampage, now swollen and misshapen beyond any recognizable form. 

Peter peered around the doorway, watching it. 

"How the hell does something made of metal mutate like that?" he wandered aloud. "It's almost as if it's alive." 

"They are." Johnson said. Peter looked at him without comprehension. "It has to do with the core. I don't know the technical reason why, but it's made from a bio-mechanical construct." 

"You want to say that again in english?" Peter said. 

"Those things were made with organic components. Parts of it really are alive." Johnson explained. 

Peter smiled. "That tells me just one thing." 

"What's that?" 

"We can kill it." 

Johnson grinned back at him. 

"Six, Centre." a voice from the Security Centre said through their ear pieces. 

"Go ahead." Johnson replied. 

"We've just tracked three persons in armoured suits landing on the roof." 

Peter and Johnson looked at each other and Peter mouthed _They're here_. Johnson nodded. "Understood. Do not move to intercept or block them, I say again, do not move to intercept or block them. Open up a path for them to my location." 

"Copy that, Six." the Security Centre acknowledged. A minute later they called again. "Six, Centre. They're in the stairwell sir, coming towards you." 

Johnson acknowledged. Another series of loud bangs followed by shattering glass indicated the boomer had found something new to destroy. Without warning, the stairwell door burst open and three hardsuited figures suddenly appeared. Johnson twirled on instinct and levelled his gun at them. 

"No!" Peter said, slapping Johnson's' gun away. He looked at the Knight Sabers. "It's in there." he said, sticking a thumb over his shoulder and through the door. The Blue Knight Saber, Priss, nodded and lead the others towards the door. Peter caught her arm as she passed by. Priss visibly tensed and looked at him, and Peter could feel her gaze burrowing into him through her visor. "Be careful, and please try not to destroy too much." he said, and let go. Priss stared at him a moment longer, then was through the door, followed by Linna and Nene, who both gave him looks as well. 

"Was that a smart thing to do?" Johnson asked as the sounds of combat could be heard through the wall. 

"Probably not. But it had to be done." Peter said and edged around the door, gun at the ready. Smoke filled the room beyond and it was difficult to see, but judging from the constant loud cracks and bangs, the fighting was hard and furious. 

"What's taking them so long?" Peter asked to no one in particular. "They should have been able to handle something like this, no sweat." 

"Maybe they're doing what you asked and are being careful." Supplied Johnson. 

"Why the hell would they listen to me? I wouldn't." Peter said, edging further forward. 

"You got me there." Johnson added. 

"Six, Centre." Both Peter and Johnson heard over their ear pieces. "The ADP Tactical Response teams are here and are preparing to enter." 

"Let them through." Johnson said. Peter glared at him in disbelief. "We've got procedures to follow." Johnson said with a shrug. 

"Yeah, well I don't." Peter said and charged into the room. He heard Johnson shouting after him to come back and that he was being a damned fool, but Peter ignored him. Following the sounds of the battle, Peter found himself in a large open workspace towards the centre of the floor. The Knight Sabers had managed to back the boomer into a corner, where it was now snarling and swiping at them like an enraged animal, preventing any of them from coming close. 

Peter shouldered his gun and took aim. "Stand back!" he yelled at the Knight Sabers. They turned, surprised by this new turn of events, but immediately recognized the threat the gun posed and jumped to the side. Peter braced himself and squeezed the trigger. The gun jerked repeatedly, but Peter held it steady. Thousands of small explosions ripped and tore into the boomers outer skin. Peter walked his fire all over the boomer, not leaving any surface undamaged. 

After several seconds of fire, the gun ran dry and Peter lowered it. The boomer now lay a smoking and charred pile of metal in the corner. Before any others could move, Priss leapt over to the boomer, reached into the rubble and crushed its core. She stood and silently watched Peter as he cleared the weapon and safed it. 

"Are you crazy? You could have killed us!" Nene shouted over her suits speaker as she and Linna recovered. 

"Relax kid, I've been shooting since before you were born. I know how _not_ to hit something." Peter said, feeling rather gung ho despite his training. 

"Well, what did you do that for? We could have taken care of it." interjected Linna. 

"I've no doubts you could. My only problem was you were taking too long, and the AD Police have arrived and are on their way up. You've got get out of here. Now." 

"Oh no! Not so-" Nene started but was cut off by Priss. 

"Didn't you hear him? We're going." the Blue Knight Saber said and pushed past Peter. Reluctantly, Nene and Linna followed, both glaring at Peter as they passed. Peter watched them leave, then put an order out over the radio that no one was to block their passage. 

He walked over to the smoking wreckage of the boomer and kicked at it absently. 

*** 

"Just who the hell does that guy think he is?" Nene shouted when they were safely on the roof and taking to the air. 

"Forget that. Did you notice how he called you 'kid'?" Linna asked. 

"I'm not a god damned kid! He shouldn't have called me that!" Nena shouted. 

"What Linna means, Nene," Priss said. "Is that you were wearing your hardsuit. How did he know you were a kid?" 

"I'm not a damn kid! Okay?" 

"If you would shut up and listen for a minute," Priss said with anger seeping into her voice. "how did he know you were so young? You were wearing your hardsuit, so he must have already known your identity." 

With a sudden clarity, Nene realized what they were talking about. "You think he's one of them?" 

"I'm willing to bet on it." Priss answered. 

*** 

After arriving back at the Pit and removing their hardsuits, Sylia straight away called all three of them into a meeting. After they related what happened at the Embassy, Sylia became very thoughtful. 

"This is totally unexpected. Why go to all the trouble of finding out everything about us, only to let us go when we were right where they would have wanted us?" 

"Maybe they felt, since we did them a favour, they'd let us go." Nene suggested. 

"They didn't owe us any favours." Priss said. "You saw how that guy took down that boomer with that monster cannon of his. They didn't need our help at all." 

"Tell me about this guy. What did he look like?" Sylia said. Priss quickly filled her in. 

"A bandage on his right ear?" Sylia asked after Priss finished. 

Priss nodded. "Yeah. What about it?" 

"The guy who broke in here last night hurt his right ear whilst escaping." Sylia said. 

"So now we know for certain. What are we going to do about it?" Priss asked. 

"Well, I could hack into their system and crash all their computers." Nene suggested. 

"No. That would just make the situation worse. What happened tonight doesn't change things. We need to find this guy and make him talk." 

"Somehow I don't think that will be easy." Priss said. "This guys a professional." 

Sylia smiled coldly. "Everybody has weaknesses, even professionals." 

*** 

The Embassy was closed the next morning. The Ambassador had gotten safely to his residence where he was under heavy guard by Japanese Police and security services, leaving the Embassy staffers to pick up the pieces. Already teams from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Australian Protective Services, Federal Police, ASIS and the JIO and a dozen other government departments were on their way to Japan. 

The event had made headlines around the world, though there was surprisingly little pressure being placed on Genom to explain how one of their products could have been so dangerously defective, especially from the Australian Government, something Peter found intriguing as he sat in his hotel room, drinking a pot of strong coffee as he watched the news. 

The phone rang and Peter took his time answering it. He had a good idea who it was. 

"Wilson! Just what the hell is going on over there?" Dewhurst demanded, his face set in a stern expression. 

"Exactly what the news reports say." 

"I want to hear your version." 

Peter told his boss what happened, but left out the Knight Sabers roll in it, instead giving him the line he and Johnson had agreed would be their official version of events, that they had moved in on the boomer and destroyed it before the ADP arrived. 

"Sounds like you had a fun night." Dewhurst said afterwards. Peter couldn't tell whether he had believed him or not. "But because of it, the decision has been made to terminate your operation." 

Peter wasn't surprised. "There's no need for that, sir. I've already completed my investigation and am ready to write my report." 

"You completed it?" Dewhurst asked, genuinely surprised. "The daily reports from the Tokyo Station Chief indicated it had stalled. How the hell do you explain that?" 

"Is there anybody there with you?" Peter asked. 

Dewhurst shook his head. "No, just me. Now what's this about?" 

"I do believe someone is trying to sabotage my investigation, and that they had inside information on it." 

"Oh, not this again!" Dewhurst groaned. 

"Just hear me out sir. Every time I had the carpet yanked out from under my feet was just as I made a major breakthrough. When my request for extra officers was turned down, I had just connected Sylia Stingray with the Knight Sabers. Upham's reaction wasn't very co-operative and he made it very clear that he wouldn't tolerate any investigation of Stingray, so I fed him false reports which got filtered through to you whilst I concentrated my investigation on Stingray." 

"All right. I understand where you're coming from, but I don't agree with it. Just what have you found? You said you completed your investigation." Dewhurst said. 

Peter nodded. "The short of it is, I've identified the Knight Sabers and their motives and have concluded that they pose no threat to Australia or its interests, particularly the Aussieboomer." 

"You have evidence to back that up?" Dewhurst asked. 

"It will all be in my report." 

"Very well. I'll pass along what you've said. Just sit tight for another day or two." Dewhurst said and hung up. 

*** 

Peter spent the day in his hotel room drafting his report. After it got dark and the business day concluded and the night life took over the city, Peter's phone rang again. Expecting it to be Dewhurst again, Peter was surprised to hear Johnson's voice on the line. 

"Pete, you'd better get over here." 

"What's going on?" 

"Just get over here now, and be sure to come in the back way. Stay out of sight of the front entrance." Johnson said, then hung up. 

Perplexed and suspecting trouble, Peter hurried out of his hotel, being sure to take his gun with him. He did as Johnson said and stayed out of sight of the main entrance to the Embassy, which was still crawling with police, Australian federal agents and now civilian contractors brought in to assess the damage. He made his way around to the back of the Embassy where a Security Officer let him in. Peter made his way up to the Security Centre and entered it. 

"What's going on?" Peter asked. Johnson stood behind one of the Security Officers monitoring the Embassy's security camera's. He looked up at Peter, then back at the monitors. 

"You'll want to see this." he said, pointing to one of the monitors. Peter walked over and looked at the indicated one. It was a feed from one of the external cameras mounted on the front of the Embassy. The camera was currently aimed at an alley between two buildings a hundred metres up the street and on the other side. A solitary figure leaned against one of the walls, a motorbike by her side, watching the Embassy's entrance. 

"Priss." Peter said recognizing her instantly. 

"She's been there for around half an hour now." Johnson said. 

"I'd better go talk to her." Peter said and turned to leave. 

"Is that wise?" Johnson asked. 

"Probably not, but my investigation's over, so it can't do any harm now." Peter said as he left the room. 

Peter took the elevator back down to the ground floor and left through the back way again. He took the long way around, circling several blocks to come at Priss from down the alley. 

As he neared the alley, he called the Security Centre and made sure Priss was still in the same location. After they confirmed it, Peter moved to the entrance to the alley and peered around the corner. He saw Priss in the same pose he had seen on the camera, casually leaning against the wall and watching the entrance. 

Hugging the shadows provided by the wall, Peter moved silently down the alley, keeping out of Priss' field of view. He got within four metres of her when she suddenly sensed a presence behind her and turned around. 

Peter held up his hands to show her he didn't have violent intentions. She remained tensed and at the ready though. "I came to talk." Peter said. 

"Then talk." Priss said. "You've got a lot of that to do." 

Peter smiled. "Yeah, I suppose I owe you an explanation." he paused for Priss to say something, but it quickly became apparent she wouldn't, so he continued. "So what do you want to know?" 

"First off; who are you?" Priss asked. 

"My name's Pete. I work for the Australian government." he said. 

"So you are a spy, and not just some mercenary for hire." 

"That's right." 

"Secondly; why?" 

"I don't suppose 'cause I was ordered to' will suffice?" he asked with a friendly grin. The look on Priss' face told him what she thought of that. He stopped smiling. "There are.... concerns in Canberra that you pose a threat to our interests. I was sent here to determine if that was true or not." 

Priss was silent a moment as she considered his words. "And are we?" 

Peter shook his head. "Not in the least. And that's what I'll be saying in my report." 

Priss relaxed and leaned back against the wall, but didn't take her eyes off Peter. "You know, for a spy, you're not very subtle." 

"I ran into a few problems. Someone back home took a disliking to my investigation and hamstrung me." 

"Why don't I feel sorry for you." Priss said sarcastically. 

Peter shrugged it off. "I deserve that." 

"So what are you going to do now?" Priss asked. 

"Go home and write my report." 

"And after that?" 

Peter shrugged. "With luck, you'll never hear from me again." 

Priss smiled. "Is that a promise?" 

"The best I can give." 

"That'll have to do then." she was silent a moment, and Peter turned to leave, but Priss spoke again. "One last question." Peter stopped and turned back around. "Just what was in that computer file you stole from us?" 

"The one thing that convinced me you weren't a threat to our national security." 

"Will we get it back?" 

Peter shook his head. "No. But it'll never see the light of day, so you've got nothing to worry about." Priss didn't look convinced. "Don't worry, we're good at keeping secrets." Priss just shrugged and looked down at the ground. "Oh, and by the way." Peter said. Priss looked up at him. "That listening device Kirkland found in his garage-" Peter started, but Priss cut him off. 

"You want it back?" 

"No. I just want to ask, what did it look like inside?" 

Priss smiled. "Like a mass of acid destroyed circuitry." 

Peter smiled back. "That's good. Now I won't to kill you." he turned and started to walk away, his senses on edge and reflexes coiled tight. A faint rustle reached his ears and he immediately ducked. His hair was rustled as Priss' arm sailed through the space his head had just occupied. He reached up and grabbed her arm as he continued to drop, pulling her forward and down. Using his body for leverage, Peter flipped Priss over him and twisted so she would land face down. In one fluid motion, he drew his pistol and pressed it against the back of her head. Priss' eyes went wide with recognition as he cocked it. 

Peter's voice was low and harsh and dripping with venom. "Don't try to get cute with me, little girl. You have no idea who you're fucking with." With that, he stood slowly, keeping his gun trained on Priss. She, smartly, lay there, but followed him with a look that could have stripped paint. 

Finally, Peter turned and put up his gun as he walked out of the alley in the direction of the Embassy's front entrance. 

*** 

Peter arrived back in the Security Centre a few minutes later. He found Johnson still watching the security monitors. "Is she still there?" he asked moving to stand next to him. 

Johnson shook his head. "She left just after you entered the building." 

"Hopefully that's the last I'll see of her." Peter said, sinking down into an empty chair. 

"So you're leaving soon?" Johnson asked, look at him. 

"Found out all I need. There's not much point in staying now. Thanks for your help by the way. I'll definitely mention it in my report." 

Johnson smiled. "Thanks, but my superiors don't read JIO reports unless it directly involves them." 

Peter shrugged. "I'll make sure they find out about it. It's only fair." 

Johnson sat down in a chair next to him and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Would you really have done it?" 

"Shot her you mean?" Peter whispered back. Johnson nodded. Peter shrugged, but kept quiet. Johnson stared at him for a moment, then stood up and left. 

Peter's phone rang and he answered it, knowing for sure who it was this time. 

"Pete." Dewhurst started to say something, but Peter stopped him. 

"Just give me a moment to find somewhere private, boss." he said and walked into Johnson's office, then motioned for Dewhurst to continue. 

"Pete, I passed along what you told me," 

"And?" Peter said. 

"Pete, before you say anything, understand that I fought them tooth and claw, but they just weren't interested. They'd already made up their minds and weren't interested in what you had to say." 

"You're kidding?" Peter said, getting a cold, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

"I'm sorry Pete, but the order still stands. Your operation is terminated as of now." 

"You told them I was writing my report now?" 

"I told them that. They just didn't want to hear about it." 

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood and took a few steps, then turned and ran his hand through his hair. "Jesus Christ! Then what was the bloody point? What was the point in me coming all the way out here for no reason?" 

Dewhurst lowered his voice. "What's more, I think you might be right." 

"What?" Peter said, not sure he heard that properly. 

"I think that if you waved a completed report under their noses this second, they still wouldn't be interested. Something really does smell here, Pete." 

"You're saying someone doesn't want this report written?" 

"Sure as hell looks that way." 

Peter sat down and tried to think, but found it difficult to concentrate. "What do you think I should do?" he asked. 

"Well, first of all, get on the first plane back to Australia tomorrow. There's no use in you staying in Japan now. You can finish your report when you get home." Peter nodded. "I'll speak to a few people upstairs and see if I can find out what's going on. I'll see you tomorrow." Dewhurst hung up. 

Peter sat there a moment as his thoughts raced. Someone didn't want his report to be written, but he had been told there were billions of dollars and thousands of jobs riding on it. Why the change of heart? Something had to have happened in the last few weeks for the politicians to give up a project that would have been popular enough to put the government back in office at the next election. But the project would only go ahead if his report stated there was no threat from the Knight Sabers, and somebody was trying to stop him from writing his report. But who would benefit most from the cancellation of the project? 

Peter knew the answer at once. Genom. With the cancellation of the Aussieboomer, they'd be able to retain their monopoly and not have to deal with the rogue boomer problem. That left one question; who had Genom corrupted? 

*** 

Peter arrived back in his hotel room a little after midnight and immediately fell onto the bed. Just as he was dozing off to sleep his phone rang. Sitting up and swearing to God that it had best be important or else someone would die slowly and painfully, he answered it. 

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty." The grinning visage of Bill Hawkins filled the screen. 

"Bill? How in Gods name did you get this number?" Peter asked. 

"I'll tell you later. I'm deploying and I've only got a minute or two to spare so I'll make this quick." 

"Deploying? What's going on?" 

"Shit! I thought you would have known!" 

"Known what?" Peter asked. Someone off screen called to Bill and he waved them away. 

"Sorry mate, I've got to go, but I just wanted to let you know I'll be in Tokyo by the morning, so we can catch up and have a few drinks. Hell, I want to check out some of these Japanese bars I keep hearing about!" 

"You're what? Coming here?" Peter was flabbergasted. 

Bill looked off-screen then back at Peter "Look mate, I really have to go now. I'll call you when I land. Bye." he said and hung up. Peter put his phone away and lay back on his bed. This mystery had just taken on a whole new, and deadly, dimension. What the hell was the SAS doing deploying to Tokyo? 

*** 

Peter came awake with the first ring of his phone. Glancing at the bedside clock as he picked up the phone, he noted it wasn't yet five o'clock. Answering it, he was both relieved and anxious to see Bill's face. "Bill. You've landed?" 

"Yeah, about an hour ago. Where are you?" 

"In my hotel. Can you talk?" 

Bill shook his head. "Not here, mate. Tell you what, I've got a couple of hours free time before we go operational. Let's meet and you can buy me breakfast." 

"You cheap bastard. Where are you?" 

"Can't say. Tell me when and where and I'll find my way." 

Peter quickly thought of the few places in the city he knew. "You can't speak Japanese can you?" 

Bill shrugged. "Not a word." 

"Okay, I'll give you the name and address of a restaurant in Japanese. A taxi should be able to get you there with just that." 

Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and notepad. "Okay, shoot." 

Peter gave him the name and Bill copied it down. "Okay, I'll see you there in an hour." 

"See you then." Bill said and hung up. 

Peter showered, shaved and dressed, then drove one of the hire cars to the restaurant and ordered a table for two. An hour after they had hung up, a taxi pulled up and deposited Bill on the footpath. He entered the restaurant, spotted Peter and made his way over. Peter noted he was dressed in civilian clothes instead of his uniform. 

Peter stood and they shook hands warmly, then sat down. They ordered their food and chatted about unrelated matters whilst they ate. When they had finished and their table cleared, Peter spoke in a low voice. "Just what the hell are you doing in Tokyo?" 

"Mate, you know the rules. I can't tell you." 

"Come on, mate, you know I'm not going to tell anyone. Besides, if it's connected with what I've been doing here, then I really do need to know what's going on." 

Bill glanced around as if was suddenly afraid someone was listening. "All right mate. Here's the deal. We've intel that a terrorist cell based here in Tokyo is going to strike at Australian interests soon. Apparently Japanese security and police are compromised so we've been sent here to take 'em out. Are they the ones you've been investigating?" 

Peter dropped his voice almost to a whisper and said. "The Knight Sabers?" 

Bill nodded. 

Peter sat back in his seat. He had been afraid of this. Whoever had interfered with his operation was now obviously going to have them taken out under the guise of a terrorist cell. He looked at Bill and felt furious at whoever was behind it at all for drawing his friend into it as the executioner. 

"Anything you can tell me?" Bill asked. 

"How many troops you got with you?" 

"Four teams." 

Peter's eyes went wide. "That many?" 

"And we'll need everyone of them from what I hear. Intel says these guys are well armed and well prepared, I'll appreciate anything you can tell me." 

Peter bit his lip, then spoke. "All I can tell you is that you don't want to hit them when they're wearing those hardsuits. You'll just get people killed." 

Bill nodded, indicating he understood. Peter's phone rang again and he turned away and answered it. 

"Pete. Can you talk?" Dewhurst asked. Peter looked at Bill and indicated he was going outside to talk in private. 

"I can now, boss." Peter said when he stepped out of the restaurant. 

"I found out the Minister and the rest of Cabinet was very surprised and disappointed that your operation was cancelled." 

"So they didn't order it?" 

"No. This came from inside JIO. My guess is that someone's been compromised." 

"Who?" 

"Could be anyone. I'm going to sit on this for a little while longer until I know more. I want you back in Canberra by tonight." 

"Sir, are you aware there's a SAS team in Tokyo to take out the Knight Sabers?" 

Dewhursts eyes went wide in shock. "You're kidding! How do you know?" 

"Sources." was all Peter would say. 

"Shit!" Dewhurst said. "Still, that doesn't change anything. I want you back here tonight." 

"Sir, I can't just leave them." 

"They're not your problem anymore. Your operation is cancelled. If you're not back here soon, things are going to look suspicious." 

"Sir, they don't deserve to die. The bastards that do are the ones pulling the strings here." 

"Forget them. They're a casualty of war. I need you here to help me find this rat." 

"Fine. I'll catch the afternoon flight." Peter said and hung up. 

Bill came out of the restaurant. "I got to head back, mate." Peter was about to speak when Bill cut him off. "Don't worry, I paid for breakfast." 

"Okay. Well, I'll see you later then." Peter said and they shook hands. 

"Hey, you going to be around tonight?" Bill asked. 

Peter shook his head. "I got to fly back this afternoon." 

"Bugger. Just as I'm coming, your going. Well, I'll catch up with you back home." 

"Yeah, I'll see you then. Take care mate." Peter said and jumped into his car, leaving Bill to hail himself a taxi. 

*** 

The departure lounge at Honshon International Airspaceport was like departure lounges the world over, but for Peter it felt like the gates of hell. He had never been particularly religious, but as he sat waiting for his boarding call, he couldn't help but wonder what judgement God would pass on him for leaving those young women at the mercy of the SAS. His SAS. He had trained with them, been one of them and still worked with them often enough to be considered part of the fraternity, and their commander was his best friend. Yet they were now going to be used to commit something so heinous that it could truly be thought of as a sin. 

And of him? By sitting by and doing nothing, would his sin be any lesser? _All it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing._ Edmund Burke's famous quote suddenly ran through Peter's mind. Was he a good man? How could he be a good man and let those women die? 

He had his orders to return to Australia. 

But it was his fault they would die. He had discovered their identities. 

He had his orders. 

But he also had a duty. A duty as a decent human being to prevent such an atrocity. 

He had his orders. 

But he had a chance to prevent their murders. 

But he also had his orders. 

His flight was called and Peter found himself first standing, then walking. 

*** 

"So he's on his way back to Australia?" Sylia asked. 

"Yep." Nene said and pointed to a serial number on the computer screen. They were the only two in the Bridge. "See here. That's his boarding number. He was apparently the last one on and his plane's currently taxiing to the runway. He's going back where he belongs." 

"About time. I for one am not sorry to see him go." Sylia said. 

"Me either." Nene squealed. "Finally I can take a shower without fear of some creepy spy perving on me." 

Sylia nodded in agreement. "Now that Nigel's almost finished those new bug detectors, I can finally sweep this place properly and find out how many of those things there are." 

"You know, it's just a pity we never got a crack at them. I would have loved to show that guy what for!" 

"Maybe it's for the best. If we had actually attacked the Embassy, that would have really brought the governments wrath down on us, not to mention marking us as international terrorists." 

Nene shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. I guess it's just back to boring old routine then." she added with a smirk. 

*** 

Priss arrived at Hot Legs for that evenings show, parking her bike in its usual spot and entering via the backdoor. As she entered her dressing room, her foot accidentally kicked a piece of paper across the room. Closing the door behind her, she crossed to the paper and picked it up. Opening it, she felt her stomach tighten as she read what was on it. 

_Blue Knight Saber, we need to talk_. Followed by a phone number. 

Priss picked up her phone and dialed the number. 

A familiar male voice answered. "Yes?" 

"I thought you said I wouldn't hear from you again?" Priss demanded angrily, her voice near a shout. 

"Just shut up and listen." loud music played in the background, and Priss realized the man was in the club. "I need you to pass a message to Sylia. Tell her things have gotten worse and that I need to meet with her." He quickly gave Priss a time and a place, followed by a warning. "Tell her to come alone and make sure she is not followed. Do not say anything about this or me until you are face to face with her in the base underneath her building. Anywhere else and the meeting will be compromised." he hung up. Priss stared at her phone for a minute, then threw it aside with a howl of rage. 

*** 

Sylia sat in a deck chair by the pool, organising the days sales records for the Silky Doll and enjoying the evening air. 

"Mistress Sylia." Henderson appeared on the deck. "Miss Priss is here to see you." he said. 

Sylia turned to see Priss standing behind Henderson, holding her bike helmet. "Priss? Don't you have a show tonight?" 

"Screw it. We've got bigger problems." Priss said. 

Sylia put her laptop aside and stood up. "What is it now?" 

"Not here." Priss said and motioned downwards with her thumb. 

Without another word, Sylia dismissed Henderson then she and Priss rode the elevator down to the Pit. When it arrived they stepped out and Sylia spoke. "Okay. What's happened?" 

"He's still in Tokyo." Priss said. 

"Him? You mean-" 

"Yeah. He gave me a message at Hot Legs to pass on to you. He said things have taken a turn for the worse and that he wants to meet with you alone." 

"What do you mean 'a turn for the worse'?" Sylia asked. 

"He didn't say. Just said he wants to meet with you." 

"Where and when?" 

Priss gave her the time and place. "He also said to go alone and make sure you're not followed. He also said not to mention this outside the Pit, otherwise the whole thing'll be compromised." 

"What's your feelings on this? Do you think it's a trap?" 

Priss thought about it for a minute. "I don't think so. I don't know how good an actor he is, but he sounded like something was really bugging him." 

"But you're not sure." Sylia said, reading Priss' body language. 

"Sense and reason say not to trust this guy, but my gut says there's really something wrong here. This all blew over much too quietly for it to be the end." 

"I guess the only way we'll find out is if I meet with him." Sylia said. 

"And if it is a trap?" 

Sylia smiled slyly. "Don't worry. I'll go prepared." 

*** 

The waters of Tokyo Bay reflected the early morning sun as it broke the horizon, reflecting the light like a continuously contorting mirror. Sylia watched the sun rise from the park on the shores of the bay, one of her more favoured spots in Tokyo now since Genom's ambitious Dragon Line project was unable to extend into this part of the city due to the high ground water level. She wondered if the Australian agent had known of her feelings for this park when he nominated it as their meeting point, or whether it was just a happy coincidence. 

Turning away from the water, she looked around at the few people in the park, and wondered if any of them was a planted agent. A few joggers could be seen running along the paths and stretching against the trees. Some businessmen were taking short cuts through park on their way to work, and one man was sleeping on a park bench. Judging from the reasonable state of his clothes, he wasn't homeless, so Sylia guessed his wife had probably kicked him out. 

With no sign of the Australian, she turned back to watching the sunrise, and found her eyes drawn to the ugly spectre of the Genom tower, rising rudely from an artificial island in the middle of the bay. She idly wondered how much it had cost Genom to have the plans for that island approved. 

Suddenly Sylia was aware of a man standing by her side. "Nice view isn't it?" he said in english with an unmistakable Australian accent. 

"It is." she replied. "What was it you wanted to meet with me about?" she asked, getting her first good look at the man. He was of average height for a westerner, meaning he was taller than most Japanese, and had dark hair and an unremarkable face, yet there was a lean hardness to him that spoke of a lifetime of intense physical activity. She also noted the bandage that covered his right ear with vindictive satisfaction. 

"I assume Priss passed onto you what I told her the other night outside the Embassy?" 

"That you had concluded we weren't a threat to Australia? I could have told you that if you'd just asked." Sylia said. 

The Australian shrugged. "Would a terrorist say yes if a cop asked him if he was going to blow up a building?" 

"Is that what you thought we were? Terrorists?" 

"Terrorists or mercenaries. What you were was of little importance. What was important was your motivations." 

"And you learned what those were when you stole my computer files." 

"Sorry about that, but I was racing against a clock and it was the only way I could do it." 

"What do you mean?" 

The agent looked at Sylia. "My agency has been compromised. Whilst I've been over here, someone with influence has been finding ways to stifle my investigation, and then finally have it cancelled altogether when I got hold of evidence that you were no threat to our interests." 

"Do you know who?" Sylia asked, suspecting she already knew the answer. 

"I suspect Genom. They're the ones who'll profit the most from the cancellation of my report and what's about to happen." 

Sylia's blood suddenly ran cold in her veins and a terrible sense of foreboding descended on her. "What is about to happen?" 

"Just over a day ago, over a dozen special forces troops secretly arrived in Tokyo with orders to eliminate a group of terrorists who are about to strike at Australian interests. Guess who those terrorists are?" 

"Us." Sylia said and looked back out over the water. "Why are you telling me this?" 

"Cause I couldn't live with myself otherwise. I was given the job to determine the nature of any threat, if any, from you and your group to our interests. But I've been seriously screwed over by someone who used me to get information on you, and now soldiers from my country are going to be used to assassinate you and your friends." He looked at her and Sylia saw a hardness so cold in his eyes that she unconsciously shivered. "I'm really pissed off about this." 

"Why should I believe you? For the past few weeks you've done nothing but spy on us and expose all our secrets to the world and our enemies! Why should I trust you now?" 

He shrugged. "You can believe me now, or you can believe the snipers bullet that will find its way into your head sometime in the next few days if you don't." 

Sylia stared at him for a long, hard minute, before finally deciding he was probably telling the truth. When she spoke, her was thinly veiled malice in her voice. "All right. What do you propose we do about it?" 

"First you need to get everybody involved with the Knight Sabers to a safehouse. I assume you have one?" 

Sylia nodded. 

"All right. You need to get them there now, without delay." 

"Is it really that imperative? I mean, Nene and Linna both have work today." 

"Then tell them to call in sick. I've got no idea when the SAS will strike, but I can tell you, you won't know about until you're knocking on the gates of heaven." 

Sylia nodded then wondered off a few steps so as to make her calls in private. Afterwards she had finished, she motioned for him to follow her. He fell into step beside her. 

"Let me ask you a question." she said. 

"What?" Peter asked. 

"We tracked you as you boarded the plane. How did you get off and back into Tokyo?" 

"Well, I was sitting in the departure lounge, all ready to follow orders and fly back home, when I realized that I had to do something about whoever was pulling the strings. So I got up to leave, and got halfway back to the terminal when I realized that going out that way would raise a few eyebrows. So I turned around and made sure I was the last to board, but instead of actually getting on the plane, I slipped out the maintenance door on the air bridge and left the airport through the employees carpark." 

They reached Sylia's car and hoped in. On the drive to the safehouse they chatted about how Peter had managed to track them down despite Sylia's precautions. Peter told her as much as he could without revealing too much classified detail, primarily putting most of his breaks down to sheer luck. 

Throughout it all, Sylia kept quiet and Peter could tell she was deciding what changes she needed to make. 

*** 

An hour later, Sylia and Peter arrived at the safehouse, an abandoned warehouse in an area still heavily damaged from the Great Earthquake. As Peter stepped out of Sylia's Porsche 911, he quickly scanned the area. He saw that Sylia had chosen this spot well. It was in what used to be a light industrial park, now just a mass of crumbling warehouses and parking lots. Given the state of all the buildings in sight, no legitimate business would be allowed to operate in the area, meaning anyone else around who might notice them would have their own reasons for keeping quiet. 

While he didn't like the prospects of defending against a lone sniper attack on anyone caught in the open, he judged the distances between the buildings and the expanse of the parking lots sufficient for defending against a full assault. With such wide and clear fields of fire for anyone in the building, it would make any officer think twice about it. He looked up in the air and noticed a set of old fashioned high voltage power lines pass directly over the building, making an aerial assault practically inconceivable. 

While Peter waited outside with the car, Sylia unlocked the heavy door and went inside. Moments later a roller door opened and Peter drove the Porsche into the building. Inside he did not find the empty, rotting shell of a warehouse he expected, but rather a building with enough reinforcing to turn it into an above ground bunker. As he parked the Porsche in an out of the way corner, he saw Sylia drag the dusty covers off a number of machines whose function Peter could only guess at. 

Peter got out of the car and made his way over to Sylia, who had now moved on to powering up an extensive computer system. "Jesus!" he commented looking around. "You must have sunk a fair bit of money into this place. How'd you get it all done without people noticing?" 

"Most of it was done at the height of the reconstruction effort after the quake, that way no one noticed all the work being done here." Sylia said. Suddenly the roar of a motorbike was heard outside and Peter instinctively reached for his gun. "There's no need to be so jumpy." Sylia said, motioning for him to put his gun away. "It's just Priss." 

"Priss? It'd probably be a better idea if I did draw. I don't think she'll be too happy to see me after the other night." he said as Sylia disappeared outside. Peter was about to follow when his phone rang. He picked it up and answered it. 

"Oh, Pete, thank God it's you." a distraught sounding Margaret Moneypenny, Dewhursts Secretary, said. Peter suddenly got a terrible sense of foreboding. 

"Margaret? What's going on? Where's the Boss?" 

"Oh Pete," her voice quivered as she struggled to hold back tears. "it's terrible. They found him this morning. They say he overdosed on sleeping tablets. They say it was an accident." 

"Who? Who says?" 

"The police." 

"And is he....?" he didn't want to say the word. 

"He's dead, Pete." Margaret couldn't hold the tears back any longer, and let forth with a terrible sob. 

Peter kept quiet until Margaret managed to regain her composure. "Maybe I should let you go?" Peter said. 

"No, Pete, I'll be okay. It's just unexpected. I mean, I didn't even know he was taking something to help him sleep. I didn't know he had problems." 

"I don't think any of us knew." but the words rang hollow in Peter's ear. He found the whole situation very suspect, but decided not to say anything to Margaret as it would only upset her further. "Look, Margaret, why don't you take the day off. Whatever else there needs to be done I'm sure it can wait till tomorrow." 

"I'll do that Pete. I just have to tell you something first. When I came in this morning, before I found out, there was a message for Mr Dewhurst on the machine which I think you'll find important. Somebody said they had information on the Attorney-General meeting with somebody from Japan the other night, a representative from some big corporation." 

"Do you know which company?" 

"I think he said Genom, but I'm not sure." 

Peter nodded to himself. Yes, it made sense. ASIO reported to the Attorney-General, which gave him significant control over foreign operations run through the JIO which he normally wouldn't have any influence over. "Thank you Margaret, that is important. Thank you. Are you going to be okay." 

"I'll be fine Pete. I'm going to go home now. I'll see you when you come home." 

Peter promised he would be home in time for the funeral and hung up. When he turned around to face the entrance to the building, he found Priss and Sylia standing there. 

They must have caught the ashen look on his face, for Sylia asked "What happened?" 

"My boss was murdered last night." Peter said, as the gravity of the fact finally descended on him like a heavy weight. Peter felt his knees go weak, but he managed to keep his footing and remain standing. He looked away from the two women whilst he worked to regain his self control. 

"Is it related to this?" Priss asked. 

"I think so." Peter took a breath and felt his composure reassert itself. Shunting the grief aside, he looked back as them. "These bastards are really going to pay now." he added quietly. 

*** 

Linna and Nene arrived a little while later, Nene dressed in her ADP uniform whilst Linna was dressed in casual clothes, Sylia catching her at home before she left for work. The last ones to arrive were Nigel, Mackey and Henderson, who drove the truck, the Mobile Pit as Sylia called it, carrying their hardsuits, much to Peter's dismay. Despite Sylia's assurances to the contrary, Peter feared that Bill may have already had the truck bugged and that he would now be moving in on their position. It wasn't until Peter inspected the truck and saw that Sylia was right, that the design made it very difficult to conceal any sort of tracking device on it, that he calmed down, though he still held some reservations towards it. 

Once all the vehicles were inside and out of sight, everybody gathered to find out what had caused Sylia to order the evacuation. She introduced Peter to those who hadn't met him yet and he explained the situation to them. Doubtless to say, none of them were very impressed with him when he finished. 

Linna was the first to speak. "So, if we're not a threat to your country, why are they still trying to kill us?" 

"I think Genom has managed to corrupt a few people in power back home. At least the Attorney General, possibly the Defence Minister and a few others as well if they were able to deploy the SAS." Peter told them. 

"One thing I still don't understand," Priss said. "is why? What interests are we a threat to?" 

"I can't tell you that." Peter said. 

"Why not?" 

"It's classified." 

"Is it because of the Aussieboomer project?" Nene asked. 

Peter's mouth fell open. "How did you find out about that?" 

Nene smirked. "Well you mustn't have done a very good job, otherwise you would have known I'm a master hacker." 

"Wait a minute." Linna interjected. "What Aussieboomer?" 

"Should you tell them or should I?" Nene asked. 

"I'd like to hear what you know about it." Peter said. 

"Okay." she said cheerily, then walked over to a computer console and slipped a disk into it. "It's like this. Some scientists in Australia have managed to back engineer one of Genom's boomers and came up with their own design based on it, but with several improvement." 

"What a minute. What improvements?" Sylia asked suspiciously. 

"Mainly safety related, such as changes to the programming and the use of lightweight alloys for the body rather than Genom's choice of super strong alloys and armour. But the biggest change is the new system to eject the core if it ever goes rogue." Nene explained. 

"That sounds like a good idea." Linna said. 

"No it's not." Sylia said. "Once a boomer goes rogue, the reaction spreads to the rest of the boomer. Just ejecting the core wont stop it, that will just slow it down temporarily. These fools have no idea what they're playing with." 

"Look," said Priss. "as interesting as this all is, it's beside the point. We've got to figure out what to do about these special forces clowns they've sent after us." 

"Well, surely if we lay low here for a while, they'll get tired of looking for us and go home, won't they?" Mackey suggested. 

"Well?" Priss said, turning to Peter. "These are your people. Will that work?" 

"It'll take a while for the powers that be to decide to withdraw them, but fortunately they're not trained to search for people in an urban environment. They'll just sit back and wait for Intel to find us." Peter's phone rang again. He rolled his eyes at the constant interruptions and walked a short distance from the group to answer it. 

"For fuck's sake Pete, where the fuck are you?" Bill demanded. Peter put it on audio only so that Bill could not see where he was. 

"Bill? What's up now?" 

"Rumour is that you've gone rogue and murdered your boss, that's what's up!" 

Peter's blood ran cold and he gripped the phone so hard his knuckles turned white. "What? Who the fuck said that?" he almost shouted. 

"That's what's come over the grapevine. That and the rumour that you've joined with this terrorist group we're hunting." 

"Look Bill, don't believe everything you hear." Peter said forcefully. 

"Then where in God's name are you? I checked. You're not back home, and you're not at your hotel or the embassy, so just where the fuck are you?" 

Peter looked down at his feet. "I'm still in Tokyo." 

"Oh God Pete!" Bill sounded dismayed. "You realize this is treason." 

"No Bill, it's not like that! You've got to realize your orders are illegal! Someone's been corrupted. The Knight Sabers aren't terrorists! They're no threat!" 

"Bullshit my orders are illegal!" Bill shouted. "They came through the proper channels with the ministers authority." 

"Then the ministers have been corrupted! It's Genom! They're the ones pulling the strings here. They're the ones that have everything to gain by this!" 

"I don't want to hear your god damned conspiracy theories! All I care about is that you've sided with the enemy." 

"No I haven't!" Peter shouted, then caught control of himself. "Look, why don't we meet and discuss this in person instead of over the phone, give us both a chance to cool down." 

"No I want to talk about it now, over the phone." Bill said. 

Peter was suddenly struck by the feeling that something was wrong here. Bill always preferred to conduct business in person rather than over the phone. Then he heard a muffled voice in the background and alarm bells rang in Peter's mind. "My God Bill! You're tracing me?" he cried in disgust. 

"No Pete! Listen-" Peter cut the connection. He couldn't believe it. His best friend now thought of him as the enemy! He threw his phone against the wall, where it broke apart and fell to the floor. 

He looked up at the assembled Knight Sabers and accomplices, tight with anger, ready to snap at anybody. No one said anything for a while, then finally Priss spoke. "So I take it they're gunning after you as well now." she said with an amused smile. 

Peter ignored her and wandered over to the remains of his phone and idly picked through them as thoughts raced through his mind. Bill, his friend for over twenty years, now considered him an enemy, along with all the Knight Sabers. He hated those that had played him like a musical instrument, but what's more, he hated himself for allowing friendship to blind him to the possibility that he was being traced. He doubted they had gotten a firm fix on their position, but he was on long enough for them to determine what area of Tokyo they were in. They had to move now, before Bill moved his troops into place. But what was more important was that he had to gather evidence that they were being used. And he knew where to find it. 

Finally he stood, resolute in his decision. "They'll have a fix on the area that we're in." he told them. "That means we have to make our move now." 

"And just what is our move?" Linna asked. 

"The only way we're going to get Bill and the rest of the Intelligence community off our backs is to go to Genom and get the proof." 

There was a stunned silence, finally broken by Priss. "Are you insane?" 

"You got a better idea?" Peter asked rhetorically. 

"We fight!" 

Peter snorted in derision. "The four of you against over a dozen SAS troops? Yeah, right. You're hardsuits may be bulletproof, but they're not impervious." 

"Peter's right." Sylia said. "If they bring enough firepower to bear on us, the hardsuits won't protect us." 

"Well then it's kill or be killed, and I'll take my chances." Priss said. 

"Have you ever killed somebody? Any of you?" Peter asked. Nobody spoke. "I have." Peter continued. "You may think it easy, but believe me, it's hard to make that first kill, especially if you have no training. Those SAS troopers do have that training, and combat experience, and they have all killed before. They'll pull the trigger without hesitation. Who do you think will come out on top?" 

"All right. You've made your point." Priss said. 

"Yeah," Nene cringed away from Peter "and rather creepily." 

"I assume you have a plan?" Sylia asked. 

"The beginnings of one." Peter said. "I'll need to plan it out fully, but we can't do that from here." 

Sylia nodded. "We'll take the Mobile Pit. That way we can launch from anywhere in the city." 

"Good idea." Peter looked at Nene. "Nene, since you claim to be a master hacker, I'll need you to get me the plans for the Genom Tower." 

"I can do that." 

"Okay then. Let's get moving." Peter said and turned towards the Mobile Pit. 

"Hey wait." Priss called after him. "What about my bike?" 

"Just leave them inside. Bill won't touch them. It's us he's after." Peter said, then climbed aboard. 

*** 

Long shadows were cast as the sun set, plunging the back alley near the Tokyo docks district where the Mobile Pit was parked into an inky half darkness. Peter sat in the back of the truck, sipping a coffee as he studied the amazingly detailed plans Nene had managed to procure. 

Sylia came over and took a seat next to him. "Any ideas yet?" 

"A couple. I gotta say, you're suits have opened up a whole new bag of tricks I can try." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. I can tell you there will be a lot people back home interested in buying your designs." 

Sylia smiled. "They're not for sale." 

Peter grinned. "You sure? We can make it worth your while." 

"I already have more than enough money, thank you." 

Peter shrugged. "Suit yourself, but I will be making that recommendation when this is over." 

"That's if you still have a job." Sylia said. 

"True." Peter said, then lapsed into silence. 

"So, what have you developed so far?" Sylia asked. 

"Well," Peter said as he rummaged through the pile of printouts. "Our objective is to break into Genom's computer system and find the evidence we need. Nene's already advised me that it would take too long to hack through all the security from the outside, so we'll have to gain physical access to a terminal where the security is minimal. Ideally the one owned by whoever's running this operation. Any ideas who that might be?" 

"It could only be the Vice President, Brian Mason. He's the only snake in Genom slippery enough to be playing games with foreign governments." she said with a cold edge in her voice. 

Peter ruffled through the printouts, looking for the plans for the Vice Presidents office. "Sounds like you two have more than a passing acquaintance with each other." he commented offhandedly. 

"It's not something I like to go into." she said. "Suffice to say he was involved with some of my fathers work." 

"Oh." Was all Peter said. He found the correct plans and laid them on top of the table. "This guy has one hell of an office." he said. "Fortunately it's near the top of the habitable complex and fairly isolated, which makes getting to it that much easier." 

"You're planning on an aerial insertion?" Sylia asked. 

"The roofs the most convenient entry point. Besides, it's nice and dramatic." he added with a grin. He pointed to the plans. "According to this, the glass in his windows is bullet proof. I trust that won't be a problem for you?" 

Sylia shook her head. "Priss' knucklebombers can handle that." 

"Good. What I'm thinking is an entry directly through the windows, access his computer and" he pulled a disk out of his pocket "upload this onto the system." 

Sylia took the disk and looked at it. "This is what you put onto our system, isn't it?" 

Peter nodded. "Rather than having to waste time searching Genom's database for the right files, this will copy everything on the system and transmit it to a safe email account." 

"How do you work it?" Sylia asked. 

"Just have Nene install it onto Mason's computer. The program will do the rest." 

"Right. And where will you be?" she asked. 

"Securing your escape route." he indicated the plans. "Genom's got more security in that building than the White House. They'll know you're there the second you break that glass, and I suspect they'll have some sort of automatic lock down system that will seal every door and window in the building. These systems are designed to completely cover the building, however they concentrate on the most likely access points and escape routes-" 

"The ground levels." Sylia said. 

"Right. The only people who come through the roof are the professionals with the resources and the know-how to defeat a security system. They're rare however, and so it's much more cost effective to protect against the more common idiots rather than put all your resources into stopping somebody who may never even strike." 

"However, this is Genom we're talking about. They'll have the resources." 

"There will be security, however there won't be as much on the roof as there is on the ground, so that's the way we want to go." 

"So what exactly is it you're planning?" 

"You most likely won't be able to go out the same way you got in, so, once the program has been uploaded onto Genom's system, head for this elevator." Peter pointed to a bank of elevator shafts near Mason's office. "The elevators will be shut down when the building is locked down, so forget about the cars and just make your way up the shaft. On your way in, I'll need you to drop me on the roof so I can neutralize any security up there and blow open the top of the shaft for you. I'll need to borrow some of Priss' knucklebombs for that." 

"There's some spares in the back." Sylia said. 

Peter looked at his watch. "This whole operation should take less than five minutes. We'll begin at midnight, and I'll run everybody through a full briefing at eight." 

"Okay. I'll tell everybody to rest up before then." Sylia said as she stood and walked off, leaving Peter to finish the planning. 

*** 

By midnight the docks were still alive with activity as boomers and giant automated cranes loaded and unloaded cargo from ships that would arrive and depart at all hours of the day or night. However, despite the lack of human presence in the district, Peter, Priss, Linna and Nene kept to the shadows as they made their way to the waterfront. 

Reaching a deserted wharf, they stopped at the end and watched the Genom Tower for a moment. Lit up from the ground by spotlights, it loomed above the bay like an evil spectre. Peter turned to the three Knight Sabers. "Okay, let's get on with it." 

Priss nodded. "Right. I'll carry you." and grabbed Peter in a bear hug around the chest as she fired her rockets. Peter hooked his fingers around Priss' arms to avoid slipping through her grip due to the smooth surface of her hardsuit and watched the waters of the bay fly by below them. He looked up at the Tower and judged Priss would land them right in the middle of the roof. Glancing behind he spotted Linna and Nene on either side of them. 

They reached the apex of their jump and began to descend. The Tower loomed up towards them. Suddenly they were upon the roof and Priss released Peter, then ran to the side of the building and jumped off, with Linna and Nene right behind her. 

Peter dodged to the side and crouched in the shadow of a communications array as he surveyed the roof. Spotting no one else about, he stood and quickly made his way to the spot above the elevator shaft the Knight Sabers would use. He knelt and mentally pictured the outline of the shaft, and from that calculated the optimum spot to place the crude demolition charge he had fashioned from Priss' spare knucklebombs. Hoping the material the roof was constructed from wasn't too strong, he set up the charges, then stood and stepped back to examine his work. Judging it satisfactory, he spoke into the small radio he carried that Sylia had tuned to the frequency the Knight Sabers used. "Three, Two. Set here." 

"Right, we're going in." Priss replied. 

*** 

Priss pulled back her arm and drove it into Mason's window, her knucklebombers detonating on impact and shattering the glass. She grabbed the remaining fragments of the frame and pulled herself through the hole as alarms started up throughout the building and a large blast shield began to descend over the window. Nene followed her, and Linna just managed to pull herself through before the shield covered over the hole. 

*** 

Peter heard the explosion from Priss' knucklebombers all the way up on the roof. He ducked behind the communications array and knelt there, remote detonator in his hand, as he slowly counted the seconds. 

_One....._

_Two....._

Just as he was about to count three and press the button, he felt a tingling down his spine and a sudden presence behind him. He whirled around, gun in his hand, to find Bill a few metres away staring at him down the barrel of his own gun. 

"Drop it, mate." Bill said with a cold edge in his voice. Peter placed his gun on the ground and slowly stood, hands in the air. "That too." Bill motioned with his gun towards the remote still in Peter's hand. Somewhat reluctantly he dropped it next to his foot. Bill took a step forward. "I figured you'd try something stupid like this." 

"How did you get up here?" Peter asked. 

Bill shrugged. "The front door. Genom needs to invent a bullshit detector for their boomers." 

"I'd ask you why you're here, but I think I already know." Peter said. 

"Just tell me why?" Bill said. 

"Because this is all wrong. The Knight Sabers aren't our enemies. They don't deserve to die." Peter said. 

"My orders say they are." Bill insisted. 

"Your orders are wrong. Genom's corrupted the government. They've at least gotten to the Attorney-General, and probably the Prime Minister and the Defence and Foreign Ministers too since you're here." 

"That's bullshit." Bill tightened his grip on his gun. 

"I have proof." Peter said. 

"Where?" 

"Last night when my boss died, somebody left a message at his office saying the Attorney-General met with one of Genom's rep's a few days ago." 

"So?" 

"So the Knight Sabers are inside right now cracking into Genom's computers to get the rest of the evidence." 

"And what if there is no evidence?" Bill asked. 

"Then I'll turn myself in and face the music." 

Bills eyes looked down and he refused to meet Peter's gaze, but he still watched him like a hawk. "I'm sorry Pete," he said quietly. "but my orders are to kill you." 

Peter looked at Bill for a moment, then looked away and said. "I'm sorry too, mate." He then flicked his left hand, diverting Bill's attention long enough for him to step on the remote detonator, pressing the button with his foot. 

There was a sudden blinding flash of light and a roar as the shaped charges blew a hole through the roof, exposing the elevator shaft as planned. 

Bill, caught unawares by the explosion, instinctively covered his face with his arms and turned his body away from it. Peter dropped to the ground and grabbed at his gun as he yelled into his radio "Three, Two, what's your progress?" If there was a response, he didn't hear it, for as he aimed at Bill, he found he had recovered and was once again aiming his gun at him. 

Peter stood slowly, but kept his gun pointed at Bill. For a moment neither man said anything, then Bill spoke. "I don't want to kill you Pete, but I have my orders." 

"I don't want to kill you either, mate, but I can't let you kill those girls. I investigated them. They're not the enemy. They're doing something good." 

"That leaves us with one choice." Bill said. 

Peter shrugged. "All right then. On three." 

Bill nodded. "It's been fun." 

"It has. One." Peter said. He felt his grip on his gun go clammy. He'd killed many enemies before, but never a friend. 

"Two." Bill followed and Peter, for the first time in twenty years, found it impossible to read his friends intentions. 

"Three." Peter said. 

*** 

Priss and Linna took covering positions around Mason's desk as Nene connected her suit to the computer. 

"How long is this going to take?" Priss demanded. 

"The system's been locked down. It'll take me a few minutes to regain access." she said as she set about cracking through all the security. 

"Well hurry it up." Priss said impatiently. 

"You know, I could do this a lot faster if you don't keep interrupting." Nene shot back. 

"All right, all right, just get it done." Priss said. 

There was silence for a few moments as Nene worked furiously, then Peter's voice came over the radio. "Three, Two, what's your progress?" 

"Nene?" Priss asked. 

"Almost there, just give me another minute." she said. 

Suddenly the doors to the office were flung open as a dozen heavily armed boomers entered. "Halt intruders. You are under arrest. Step away from the computer and give yourselves up." the lead boomer ordered. 

"Linna!" Priss yelled as she sprung towards the nearest boomer. Gunfire exploded around the room, and Nene ducked behind the desk while Linna rushed forward, flicking her head and sending her cutters forward to slice a boomers arms off, followed by a twirl that beheaded it. 

Linna glanced around and noticed Priss tangling with two boomers at once, but had no time to go to her aid as another boomer bore down upon her. 

*** 

A cool breeze sprung up, rustling Peter's hair and blowing what smoke remained from his explosion towards them. He stared down his gun at Bill, who stared back at him, neither man having fired his weapon. This wasn't like the other times. They had always been the enemy then. Bill wasn't his enemy, and Peter knew there was no way he'd be able to pull the trigger. Finally he lowered his weapon and safed it. 

"I'm waiting." he chastised Bill, who still hadn't fired yet. 

Bill shut his eyes, and Peter noticed his hands began to tremble. "They really aren't the enemy?" Bill asked. 

"No. But those bastards below us are." 

"I'm probably going to be Court-martialled for this....." Bill said as he lowered his gun and safed it. 

"No you won't, cause you weren't here." Peter said with a grin, partly conspiratorial, but mostly of relief. 

Bill laughed. "Fuck that. I was here, and I made the call not to fire. But you just better be right about that evidence mate." he added. 

"You'll know in a few minutes." Peter said as he went over to the still smoking hole and peered in. Bill stood by him and looked down also. 

*** 

Priss lashed out at the boomer with her foot, and felt the familiar shock travel up her leg as the anklebombs detonated and the boomers head disappeared in a flash of light and a hail of shrapnel. Planting both feet firmly on the ground, she looked about the office, searching for another target. All she saw were smoking hulks on the floor and Linna standing over them triumphantly. 

"Not bad." the singer said. 

"'Not bad'?" Linna reacted. "I think I took out more than you." 

"Yeah, whatever." Priss said. "Nene, are you finished yet?" 

"Just about." the blonde called, followed a moment later by a singsong "I'm finished." as she sprang up from behind the desk. She spotted the destroyed boomers. "Oh poo. You two had all the fun." 

"Just get your butt upstairs." Priss said as she and Linna sprinted for the door. 

"Hey, wait for me." Nene called as she ran after them. 

Outside the office, they found a large, sumptuously appointed hallway, at the end of which was the elevator shaft they needed to reach. They started for it, but came to a halt when the doors opened and another dozen boomers stepped off. 

The Knight Sabers dove back inside Mason's office as the hallway filled with bullets. "Shit." Priss muttered. 

"What do we do?" Linna asked. 

Priss turned to Nene. "Nene, can you track them?" 

"Yeah, they're coming this way." she said. 

"All right. Linna, when they get within a metre of the door, you go to the left, I'll take the right. Nene, you give us some covering fire." 

"You got it, Priss." Nene gave her thumbs up. 

They waited several tense seconds as the boomers moved en masse towards the door. Nene counted down the rapidly shrinking distance, until when they reached designated point, she shouted "Now!", stepped before the doorway and let fly with her railgun. 

Unfazed by the hail of metal spikes, the boomers raised their weapons and took aim, until two more targets appeared in the doorway. Uncertainty over which posed the greater threat, they quickly recomputed the tactical situation and adjusted their aims accordingly. But that slight delay was all the time Priss needed to drive her armoured fist into the head of the nearest boomer, and for Linna to decapitate two more. 

With their numbers suddenly reduced, the remaining boomers recalculated their tactical situation again and readjusted. Two boomers opened fire at Priss, yet she leapt aside and their bullets ended up striking another boomer, their armour piercing rounds ripping apart its chest plate and destroying its delicate internal circuitry. 

Linna, meanwhile, made the mistake of straying too close to a boomer, and it was only a warning call from Priss that she avoided having her head knocked from her body a savage swipe from the boomers arm. Linna ducked and lashed out with her ribbons, slicing open the boomers body through which she lunged with her arm and crushed its core. 

Linna turned towards Priss who was busily pummelling another boomer into the ground, unaware of two more that approached her from behind. "Priss!" Linna yelled, yet it was Nene who fired her railgun at the nearer of the two boomers, distracting it long enough for Linna to destroy it with her cutters as Priss finished pummelling the boomer and turned her attentions to the other one. 

With their numbers now reduced to four, the remaining boomers withdrew back down the hallway to regroup and open fire with their guns again. 

Diving for cover in Mason's office, the girls once again found themselves pinned down. The boomers continued to pour bullets into the walls above their heads for another minute or so, then stopped. "Damn it! We don't have time for this!" Priss yelled as she bolted through the door and towards the boomers. 

"Priss!" Linna and Nene called after her, before following her out. 

Priss covered the distance between the door and the boomers in a few quick strides and laid into the first with a series of furious kicks and punches that left it a smoking pile of charred metal, then turned to the next one. Linna attacked another boomer whilst Nene kept the last distracted with her railgun. 

Within minutes, the last remaining boomer fell, and the Knight Sabers paused to catch their breath. 

"Well, that was a workout." Linna said. 

"Yeah, a lot easier than when they go rogue." said Priss. 

"What? Easier? You're weird Priss." Nene said, then stopped herself when she was alerted to something by her sensor array. "Oh my god! There's lots more coming." she told the other two. 

"Time to go." Priss said as she opened the elevator doors and held them for the other two to take off up the empty shaft before following them. 

*** 

"They're taking their sweet time." Bill griped. "Are you sure about this, mate?" 

"They'll be here. I managed to convince them that they'd come out second best if they went toe to toe with your lot." Peter said. 

Bill laughed. "Maybe, but it sure as hell would have been a close one." 

Peter smiled and shrugged. "Just don't tell them that." 

Suddenly an access door to the roof opened and Peter and Bill both dove behind the communications array. Taking out his gun, Peter asked Bill "You expecting somebody, mate?" 

"No." Bill said as he drew his weapon. 

Both men watched as an armed boomer emerged from the door and scanned the roof top area. Immediately spotting them, it opened fire, forcing Peter and Bill to leap aside. 

Peter struck the roof and rolled onto his stomach. Lying prone, he brought his gun up in both hands and opened fire on the boomer. He heard gunshots to his left and knew Bill had opened fire on the robot as well. 

Although impervious to their bullets, it was nevertheless driven back by a constant barrage from both guns. Just as Peter was thinking they might drive it down the stairs, another boomer appeared behind it and proceeded to lay down covering fire for the first. 

Peter rolled away, landing by the open elevator shaft. He desperately sought cover yet there was none to be found. Suddenly the boomers fire left Peter. He looked up to see Bill on his feet and racing as fast as he could across the roof, drawing the boomers fire away from him. Peter took the opportunity and, rising to one knee, he opened fire on the first boomer. His bullet ricocheted of its head, causing it to stumble backwards a step and right into the second boomer, knocking its aim off Bill and into the air, and allowing him to dive behind the communications array. 

All too quickly however, the boomers recovered and targeted Peter. The first bullets struck the roof by his feet, and Peter instinctively recoiled, overbalanced and fell backwards into empty space. The hole he had blown in the roof quickly rushed away from him as he tumbled down the elevator shaft. Initially too stunned to even cry out, his survival instincts kicked in and he began thrashing with arms and legs. Flailing about, he felt his arm brush against the heavy elevator cables but was unable to grab any. 

Then, with a bone jarring jolt, his fall ended and, surprisingly, he began moving back upwards. Picking his head up, he found himself in Linna's arms. Looking into her visor, he mouthed 'Thanks'. She nodded and Peter thought he saw her wink at him from behind the visor. He looked about and saw Priss and Nene flying upwards alongside them. 

They emerged through the hole to find the two boomers had advanced on Bill's position, using a conventional shoot and scoot tactic where one would cover the other while it moved forward. With the sudden arrival of a new threat, the boomers turned their attention away from Bill, allowing him to get off a few more shots, which served to further distract the boomers as Priss and Nene moved to engage them. 

Linna deposited Peter on the roof, then went to help Nene. Peter moved to Bill's side. "You okay?" he asked. 

Bill nodded. "I thought we'd both had it when I saw you fall." he said. 

Peter looked back to the battle in time to see Priss reach into the last boomers chest cavity and destroy its core. He looked back at Bill and saw him watching the girls as well. "You believe me now?" 

Bill looked back at him. "I'll fucken' believe anything you want, so long as we can get outta here." 

Peter nodded then stood and waved to get the girls attention. He pumped his arm up and down, indicating for them to hurry up. "Let's go!" he called. 

The Knight Sabers hurried over. "Who's he?" Priss asked when she saw Bill. 

"Coming with us." Was all Peter said. "Now let's go." 

"Yeah, we oughta." Nene said. "There's more boomers coming." 

Priss didn't need anymore encouragement. She grabbed Peter and launched herself off the building. Peter looked behind and saw Linna and Nene both grab Bill and take off. 

*** 

They arrived back at the Mobile Pit a few minutes later, having taken a short circular route to throw off any sensors Genom might have tracked their departure with. When they landed Peter quickly explained who Bill was. At Sylia's request he remained outside with Priss and Linna who kept their suits on to hide their identities while Peter went inside with Nene. 

Peter immediately sat down at the computer terminal and logged onto the internet. 

"I take it the operation was successful?" Sylia asked. 

"I'll know in a minute." Peter said as he logged into the online email account. Nene came up behind him and watched over his shoulder. She had removed her helmet when she got inside, but kept her hardsuit on. 

Peter found the email with the copied Genom files. He slumped back in the seat and let out a sigh of relief. "We got them." he said and opened up the file to take a look. 

He bolted upright in his seat when he saw the contents of the file. "What the!" 

"Something wrong?" Sylia asked. 

"Just that we should have gotten the entire contents of Genom's database, not just these few files." He heard Nene laugh quietly to herself behind him. He turned around. "What the hell did you do?" 

"Oh, just made a few improvements." she giggled. "It would have taken much too long to download all of Genom's files, so I modified your program to just search for all the Knight Saber related files, then transmit the proof you needed and destroy all the rest." 

Peter's face fell. "But we needed those. Especially Genom's boomer designs. Those were needed for the Aussieboomer project." 

Sylia smiled. "Well, now we're even." 

Peter looked back at Nene. "You managed to modify that program in one afternoon?" 

"Yep." Nene said, placing her hands on her hips and standing proudly. 

Peter stood. "You wouldn't happen to want a job in our cyber division would you?" 

"Not on your life." Nene said with a smile. 

Sylia smiled and tapped a few buttons. A copy of the files began printing out and were then erased from the email account. She handed the papers to Peter. "I believe our association is ended." she said. 

Peter took the papers, folded them and stuffed them in his pants pocket. "Well, I've got to say Sylia that it's been an interesting couple of weeks." he extended his hand. "No hard feelings?" 

Sylia took it. "So long as you never set foot in Japan again." 

"That's my intention, and they'd have to drag me kicking and screaming if they decide otherwise." 

"I guess that will have to do." Sylia said. "Just one thing I want to know." 

"What?" 

"You said you'd killed before. How come it was so hard for you to stand aside and let us die?" 

Peter shrugged. "Guess cause I was trained to kill the enemy. You're not the enemy." 

Sylia smile. 

The door to the Mobile Pit opened and Peter stepped out, then Sylia called Priss and Linna inside. Bill watched them and caught a glimpse of Sylia's face as she shut the door. The engine started and the large truck drove off, leaving Peter and Bill standing by themselves in the deserted alley. Bill turned to Peter. "Did we get it?" 

Peter nodded and pulled the papers from his pocket and handed them to Bill. Bill leafed through them and his eyes went wide. "Fuck me! You weren't half kidding, mate!" 

"I told ya. Never doubt me again, mate." Peter said with a wide grin. 

Bill handed the papers back to Peter. "So what do we do with them?" 

Peter put the papers away. "Turning them over to the JIO won't do any good. The ministers will just have them buried, and us along with them more than likely." 

"So what then?" 

Peter grinned. "I bet the Opposition and the media would love get their hands these." 

Bill chuckled. "This will bring down the government, you know." 

Peter shrugged. "I never voted for them anyway." 

"Let's get going. The sooner we clear our names, the better." Bill said and started walking. Peter fell into step beside him. 

They only went a few metres when Bill stopped and looked at Peter. "Sorry for trying to kill you, mate." 

"Sorry for getting you dragged into all this." Peter said. 

Bill extended his hand and Peter took it. They shook, then Peter patted the papers in his pocket. "You know what? These can wait. Let's go get drunk." 

Bill laughed, then started off down the alley at a trot. "You're going to take me to one of those Japanese bars I mentioned." 

Peter laughed and started after him, the animosity of the last few days forgotten and their friendship reaffirmed. 

*** 

Brian J. Mason entered his office the next morning, escorted by his red headed boomer assistant and coldly surveyed the damage. Cleaning boomers had already cleared the destroyed security boomers and debris from the battle, leaving a scarred room behind. His eyes came to rest on a solitary figure leaning casually against his desk, his clothes dishevelled and a half smoked cigarette hanging from his mouth. 

Mason ignored him as he went to his desk and sat down. He leaned his elbows on his desk and rested his face on his hands. His assistant boomer took its usual seat off to the side and waited patiently. 

Kusui finally spoke. "I think it's safe to assume it was the Knight Sabers last night." 

"What was the damage?" Mason asked him. 

"They wiped every file related to them." 

"I assume we have backups?" Mason asked. 

"Of all the older data, yes, but not the files we received through our Australian contacts. They only arrived last night and I hadn't had a chance to review them yet." 

"So all that money we spent has been wasted?" 

"On wiping out the Knight Sabers, yes, though the Aussieboomer project will still be cancelled, despite our setbacks." 

"So we'll at least maintain our monopoly on the boomer market. That will be enough to please the Old Fool. Is our agent still undetected?" 

"For the time being at least. Though he had to be recalled when all the other Surveillance Officers were recalled so as to avoid suspicion. Do you want him silenced?" 

Mason thought for a moment. "Not quite yet. Mr Shearer proved useful, and he may do so again. But have him watched closely." 

"Understood. Was there anything else?" 

Mason stood. "Find out how our security was breached. You know what to do with those responsible." 

"Yes sir." Kusui said and slowly wandered out of the office. 

Mason sat back down, then turned his chair around to stare out his broken window at the city. The large hole was a reminder that he was not as protected as he would have liked, but he consoled himself with the thought that his goal was drawing closer. 

Glossary of Australian Terms

ARSE: Australian spelling of ass (as in the posterior, not the donkey, that one is spelt ass) 

AUSTRALIAN SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (ASIS): Australia's foreign intelligence service, similar to the CIA and British MI6. 

AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION (ASIO): Australia's counterintelligence, domestic intelligence and national security service, similar to the NSA and FBI Counterintelligence Division rolled into one organisation. 

BUGGER: Be anally raped. Also used an exclamation of surprise or frustration. 

CANBERRA: Australia's capital city. 

FOOTPATH: Sidewalk; pavement. 

G'DAY: Colloquial Australian greeting. 

JAM (In the context of a food spread): Jelly. 

MATE: Friend. Buddy. Pal. 

MARGINAL GOVERNMENT SEAT: Parliamentary voting district where the government holds a thin majority of the vote. 

POWER POINT: Electrical outlet on a wall where electrical devices are plugged into. 

THE OPPOSITION: In the Westminster Parliamentary system, the party with the second largest number of seats which sits in opposition to the government and debates policy. Similar in role to the Minority Party in the US Congress. 

LABOR PARTY: An Australian political party founded by the trade unions 


End file.
